European Super League | ECJ Ruling Soccer

[Cappuccino Kid]

The European Court of Justice has ruled in favour of the European Super League.

Uefa and Fifa rules banning clubs joining breakaway competitions like the European Super League are unlawful, the European Court of Justice has ruled.

It had been claimed by the ESL and its backers, A22, that Uefa and Fifa were breaking competition law by threatening to sanction clubs and players who joined the breakaway league.

A ruling on Thursday from Europe's highest court found against the governing bodies.

An initial report released last December by the ECJ said the rules of football's European and world governing bodies were "compatible with EU competition law".

However, the verdict will be seen as a blow to the authority of Uefa and Fifa and how they govern the game.

The report said that when new competitions are "potentially entering the market" Fifa and Uefa must ensure their powers are "transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate".

The report adds: "However, the powers of Fifa and Uefa are not subject to any such criteria. Fifa and Uefa are, therefore, abusing a dominant position.

"Moreover, given their arbitrary nature, their rules on approval, control and sanctions must be held to be unjustified restrictions on the freedom to provide services.

"That does not mean that a competition such as the Super League project must necessarily be approved. The Court does not rule on that specific project in its judgment."

The ESL saga began in April 2021 when news broke that 12 teams - including English teams Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham - had signed up to the breakaway competition.

There was widespread anger and condemnation from fans, other European leagues and even government, leading to the collapse of the plans within 72 hours.

The six Premier League clubs plus Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan were fined by Uefa, but action against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus was halted during the legal process, although Juventus signalled their intention to quit the project in July.

The ESL has not been scrapped completely, however, with Real Madrid and Barcelona remaining interested in pursuing the venture.

 

[John Steed]

This is a huge blow for FIFA and UEFA in their efforts to kill off the Super League, as the future of football now remains in the balance.

Super League CEO Bernd Reichart: "UEFA-monopoly is over. Football is free. Clubs are now free from the threat of sanction and free to determine their own futures!

"For fans, we propose free viewing of all Super League matches. For clubs, revenues and solidarity spending will be guaranteed."

The new idea for the Super League is for an open league including 60 clubs in different divisions.

The future of football hangs in the balance once again.

 

[Cappuccino Kid]

A proposal for the European Super League has been released, but how is the competition actually going to work?

There will be 64 teams, 3 divisions with promotions and relegations, aswell as league and playoff phases.

Will be some big changes incoming if the Super League proposal comes into fruition

• 64 teams will be divided into 3 leagues - star, gold and blue
• 16 teams in the "star" and "gold" leagues and 32 teams in the "blue" league
• Theses teams will be divided into groups and play each other home and away in a "league stage" from September to April
• The bottom two teams from two groups of the star league face relegation, making way for the gold league's top two finalists to replace them.
• The bottom two teams in the gold league face relegation, making room for the top two finalists from the blue league
• Twenty teams from the blue league are eliminated making way for 20 new teams to join based on their performances in their respective domestic leagues

 

[Cappuccino Kid]

Major football clubs have already begun publicily rejecting the new European Super League proposal.

Man United, Man City
PSG, AS Monaco
Atletico, Valencia, Sevilla, Sociedad, Villarreal
Bayern Munich, Dortmund
AS Roma, Inter Milan
Celtic
Feyenoord

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin: "We will not try to stop the European Super League, they can do whatever they want.

"I hope they will start their magnificent tournament as soon as possible with 2 clubs."

Shots fired by the UEFA President

 

[David76]

The European Super League is just Barcelona and Real Madrid trying to gaslight the rest of Europe so that they can get out of their own financial struggles.

 

[Boot Cleaner]

According to the BBC, Man United and Chelsea have come out and said they have no interest in joining a super league.

The reporter says it's the clubs from La Liga that want it most, as they want some of English Premier League cake.

The lure for the fans is the promise of free streaming of every game, in other words, massive amounts of advertising.

 

[Bandit]

This will fail. Surely only Real Madrid and Barcelona are interested? I say let them have their own super league.