United States: EU Competition Law And Sports – Three Seminal Judgments Of 21 December 2023 By The Court Of Justice Of The EU

Taking the view that sport federations, which have or arrogate to themselves powers to regulate a sporting activity are subject to the EU's competition and internal market rules, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the EU handed down three seminal judgments on 21 December 2023. These judgments concern the rules laid down by sports federations on the organization of sporting competitions or aimed at making the creation of new competitions subject to their prior authorization.

These three rulings were handed down in different contexts, but all three converge in recalling, on the one hand, the application of EU competition and internal rules to such practices by undertakings or associations of undertakings and, on the other hand, that sports federations are required, when implementing these prerogatives, to guarantee equal opportunities and adopt transparent, objective and non-discriminatory procedures.

Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 21 December 2023, European Superleague Company SL v Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), C-333/21, EU:C:2023:1011, request for a preliminary ruling from the Juzgado de lo Mercantil de Madrid

Facts

The Fédération internationale de football association ("FIFA") is an association governed by Swiss law whose objectives include, inter alia, to draw up regulations and provisions governing the game of football (soccer in the US) and related matters, and to control every type of football at world level, but also to organize its own international competitions. FIFA is made up of national football associations which are members of six continental confederations recognized by it – which includes the Union of European Football Associations ("UEFA"), an association governed by Swiss law whose principal missions consist in monitoring and controlling the development of football in Europe. As members of FIFA and UEFA, those national associations have the obligation, inter alia, to cause their own members or affiliates to comply with the statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of FIFA and UEFA, and to ensure that they are observed by all stakeholders in football, in particular by the professional leagues, clubs and players.

In accordance with their respective Statutes, FIFA and UEFA have the power to approve the holding of international professional football competitions, including competitions between football clubs affiliated to a national association ("interclub football competitions"). They may also organize such competitions themselves (such as the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League, or others) and exploit the rights related thereto.

European Superleague Company SL ("ESLC") is a company governed by Spanish law established on the initiative of a number of professional football clubs with the objective of organizing a new European interclub football competition known as the "Super League".

Following the announcement of the creation of the Super League, FIFA and UEFA issued a joint statement on 21 January 2021, setting out their refusal to recognize that new competition and warning that any player or club taking part in that new competition would be expelled from competitions organized by FIFA and UEFA. In those circumstances, ESLC brought an action before a Spanish court, seeking, in essence, a declaration that those announcements and conduct by FIFA and UEFA were unlawful and harmful.

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Originally published in Sports Litigation Alert, January 26, 2024.

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