Uefa and Fifa lose Super League football case

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Football’s governing bodies have lost a landmark court case that threatens their hold over the sport in Europe, potentially opening the door for new breakaway competitions across the industry.

The EU’s top court found on Thursday that Uefa, which oversees European football, and the global body Fifa acted unlawfully in threatening to impose sanctions on players and clubs that joined the European Super League in 2021.

The ruling by the EU’s Court of Justice did not suggest that the ESL, an attempted breakaway competition launched by 12 top football clubs, or any other new contest must be approved. But the judges challenged the fundamental powers of Uefa and Fifa, requiring the bodies to ditch “arbitrary” rules and be more open to competition.

In a separate ruling, the ECJ also found that the International Skating Union had acted unlawfully when it threatened to punish athletes seeking to take part in a competition in Dubai that had not been endorsed by the governing body.

Legal experts said the rulings had brought sport firmly within the scope of European competition law, with potentially far-reaching consequences across the sector.

“The organisation of sports competition is no longer under the monopoly of the sports federations,” said Mark Orth, a sports competition lawyer and lecturer. “Athletes and clubs have been given a lot of new opportunities.”

The ESL project would have created a rival to Uefa’s lucrative Champions League, owned and run by a group of elite teams. But it unravelled within days after a fierce backlash from fans, national governments and domestic leagues. 

Most of the clubs involved quickly distanced themselves from the ESL but Real Madrid and Barcelona have continued to press their case through the courts, complaining that Fifa, which runs the World Cup, and Uefa operate their own tournaments yet also…