The European Union’s top court’s decision on Thursday to rule that FIFA and UEFA had violated EU law in an attempt to prevent the formation of a rival Super League “does not signify an endorsement or validation of” the breakaway league, according to UEFA.
UEFA proceeded to state: “It rather highlights a technical aspect that was already recognized and handled in June 2022 inside UEFA’s pre-authorization process.
“UEFA is confident in the robustness of its new rules, and specifically that they comply with all relevant European laws and regulations.”
As UEFA and FIFA were found to have violated EU legislation by suppressing the Super League, Spain’s La Liga responded fiercely on Thursday, calling the judgment “a selfish and elitist model.”
The last two teams to support the Super League were Real Madrid and Barcelona, the two titans of Spanish football, but La Liga is adamantly against the idea.
La Liga wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “Today, more than ever, we reiterate that the ‘Super League’ is a selfish and elitist model.”
“Anything that is not fully open, with direct access only through the domestic leagues, season by season, is a closed format.”
The written judgment summary from the European Court of Justice emphasised that while FIFA and UEFA have been “abusing a dominant position” in the football market, the verdict does not necessarily suggest that the Super League idea should now be approved.
“The FIFA and UEFA rules making any new interclub football project subject to their prior approval, such as the Super League, and prohibiting clubs and players from playing in those competitions, are unlawful,” it determined.
The Super League project’s promoter, A22 Sports, who is scheduled to conduct a news conference in Madrid later on Thursday, declared victory.
“We now have the privilege to participate. The dominance of UEFA has ended. In a social media post from the A22 account, the company’s CEO, Bernd Reichart, declared that “football is free.”