The promoters of the Football Super League this Thursday praised the fall of UEFA’s monopoly after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled that the body and FIFA lack the legitimacy to ban new competitions.
“We have won the right to compete. The UEFA monopoly is over. Football has become free. Clubs will no longer suffer from threats and sanctions and are free to determine their own future,” German Bernd Reichart, executive director of A22 Sports, admitted on social networks. Management is the company that presented the original Super League project in 2021.
This Thursday, the CJEU found the decision of FIFA and UEFA to ban athletes and clubs from participating in private competitions as contrary to European law, highlighting that both organizations had abused their “dominant position” in their actions against the creation of the controversial Super League. League., which was declared impossible in 2021 and restored in February 2023.
“For fans: we will issue all Super League calls free of charge. For clubs: club income and payments in solidarity with football will be guaranteed,” the director emphasized, speaking about the court decision without the possibility of appeal.
The project for private and closed competitions was launched in April 2021, but collapsed in just 48 hours, facing opposition from various quarters, from sports bodies to national governments, including the fans themselves.
In October 2022, A22 was created to promote the project, which continues to be supported by the Spaniards Barcelona and Real Madrid and the Italians Juventus, while the other nine of the 12 founding clubs have already become disillusioned with the future. Super League.
The plan returned in February 2023 under new principles and a 60–80 club model that was open, without permanent members and based on sporting merit.