The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union defended this Thursday that FIFA and UEFA have not violated European law by blocking the establishment of the Football Super League and threatening to exclude participating clubs from their competitions.
The Greek Athanasios Rantos found that the supporters of the Superliga had the right to organize a test”outside the UEFA and FIFA ecosystem, but could not continue to participate in competitions organized by FIFA and UEFA without the prior consent of these associations”🇧🇷
The legal opinions of the Advocates General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) are not binding, but are usually followed by the Luxembourg-based court, whose decision on this case will not be taken until next year.
The main issue that the ECJ will have to rule on is the alleged abuse of UEFA’s dominant position, which threatened to punish the clubs in the Superliga, a closed competition made up of the main European clubs that would rival the Champions League.
“The competition laws of the European Union do not prevent FIFA, UEFA, national associations and leagues from threatening to penalize member clubs of these organizations if they participate in the creation of new competitions that could harm them”insisted Athanasios Rantos.
UEFA has already expressed its satisfaction with the “unambiguous position” of the CJEU Advocate General, calling it “an encouraging step” towards “preserving the democratic governance structure” in European football.
“Football in Europe remains united and strongly opposes the Superliga project or any other dissident proposal that threatens the European sports ecosystem.”be the sport’s governing body on the continent.
The announcement of the creation of the Superliga, an elite league intended to rival the UEFA Champions League, shook the foundations of football in Europe, but quickly lost momentum, despite criticism from several sides, of the sport’s structures , to governments nationally.
Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham were the founding clubs, but most left the ship soon after after strong opposition, including the fans themselves, leaves only Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus.
Source: DN
