This Thursday, the Commercial Court No. 17 of Madrid holds the hearing of the ordinary procedure, in matters of defense of competition, known as SuperLiga casein which it will be ruled if UEFA and FIFA abused their dominant positionwhich confirmed the resolution of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) last December, which is binding on the Spanish court.
The oral hearing of the procedure will begin at ten in the morning this Thursday. According to the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid, A single day of morning and afternoon is plannedalthough it will depend on its development, thus leaving open the possibility of it being extended to a second session, which would be held on Friday.
Almost three years after the announcement of the creation of the new continental competition and the complaint by its promoters – led by Florentino Pérez, president of Real Madrid – against UEFA and FIFA for abuse of a dominant position, the case lives this Thursday in Madrid a full stop or, perhaps, followed. The Super League and the governing bodies of European and world football confront each other face to face at the origin of the conflict, in what could be a turning point.
Thus, the Superliga case returns to the Madrid court where it all began and to which Real Madrid appealed and its partners, through A22 and European Super League Company (ESL), to report possible abuse of dominant position by UEFA and FIFA.
This Commercial Court number 17 of Madrid referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) a preliminary ruling on which it ruled on December 21. In his sentence, He saw the veto of UEFA and FIFA as illegal to the organization of the Super League by a group of teams, including Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, by concluding that the rules applied by these two international associations are not subject to any criteria that guarantee their transparency, proportionality and objectivity.
The European High Court also warned that FIFA and UEFA are “abusing their dominant position” with their exclusive control on the commercial exploitation of the rights derived from the competitions they organize. “FIFA and UEFA can harm European football clubs, all companies operating in broadcast media markets and, finally, consumers and television viewers, by preventing them from benefiting from potentially innovative or interesting new competitions,” it ruled. .
A resolution that It is binding for the Spanish courtto which the CJEU specified that it is up to “check whether these rules can, however, benefit the different football interest groups, for example, through a solidarity redistribution of the income generated by these rights.”
From A22 Sports, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona celebrated the CJEU ruling as a triumph, so that European football is free” and can “decide its destiny” without the “monopoly” of UEFA and FIFA. A vision that is far from that of the two organizations, the FIFPRO Europe union, the European Club Association (ECA) or LaLiga – a person in the procedure – whose president assured that “there will be no Super League in the short, medium or long term, because legally it is not possible.
The UEFA defends himself with regulatory change which the entity introduced in June 2022, after the announcement of the new format in 2021, in which They conditioned the pre-authorization of new competitions. As long as the European sports model and its rules are protected, as well as a financial distribution must follow, in addition to the principles of openness and sporting merit, without affecting the national leagues and tournaments already organized by UEFA, which will have 12 months to decide.
On April 19, 2021, twelve European clubs, including Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid, announced the founding of the European Super League, but, after threats of football’s governing bodies, Only Real Madrid, Barça and Juventus remained in the projectalthough the latter also abandoned him on July 14.
However, after the CJEU resolution and in the face of criticism for being originally a competition “for the elites” and “closed”, A22 proposed a new “open” European competition that could be seen by “streaming free«, made up of 64 clubs that would be divided into three divisions with annual promotions and relegations. In addition, they assured that “minimum income for both clubs and football solidarity” would be “guaranteed” during the first three years.