In a lawsuit filed today, the
UEFA
and FIFA were asked to stop their anti-competitive behavior, the European Super League (
overexcellent
) has won this legal battle. This was welcomed and recognized by Bernd Reichart, CEO of the European super promotion company A22.
Bernd Reichart said, "We welcome the decision of the Madrid court. This is an important step towards a truly competitive and sustainable club soccer landscape in Europe. For too long, UEFA has been allowed to control and dominate club soccer in Europe. For decades, UEFA's statutes, and radical actions to protect its monopoly, have stifled innovation, and clubs should not have to worry about the threat of sanctions simply because they have ideas as well as conversations. The monopoly era is now well and truly over. We look forward to continuing our dialog with clubs of all sizes to improve club soccer and make it more accessible and attractive to fans of all ages."
The 17th Commercial Court of Madrid agreed to the European Super League's lawsuit against UEFA and FIFA, partially upholding its claims and claiming that the two organizations had abused their dominant position to prevent free competition and disproportionate restrictions in the market by imposing unreasonable measures.
The court ruling ordered UEFA and FIFA to cease the sanctioned anticompetitive conduct and to prohibit the recurrence of such conduct in the future. In addition, they were ordered to immediately remove all effects of the anti-competitive conduct that had occurred before or during the proceedings.
The ruling comes after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued its decision in December 2023, and Europe's highest judicial body has previously ruled that UEFA and FIFA's rules authorizing the competition violate EU law. Although UEFA changed the rules in 2022, the judges only considered the rules in force at the time of the proceedings and did not take into account the changes to the UEFA Premier League program.
The focus of the ruling was to address the provisions of UEFA and FIFA and whether their actions upon learning of the UEFA Premier League project violated the rules of the competition, and the ruling concluded in the affirmative. The ruling found that Articles 22, 70, 71, 72 and 73 of the FIFA Statutes and some of its provisions relating to international competitions, as well as Articles 49 and 51 of the UEFA Statutes, were in conflict with the FIFA Operating Treaty.
The ruling marks a major turning point for UEFA and FIFA in terms of market dominance and brings new hope and opportunities for the future of European club soccer.
