The chief executive of the company behind the Super League, Bernd Reichart, has said the project is still “very much alive” despite the rejection of one of the Super League’s key arguments in the latest stage of its legal battle with UEFA.
Reichart, who was appointed CEO of A22 Sports Management in October, was speaking on Friday at a “New Economic Forum” event in Madrid attended by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and Barcelona president Joan Laporta.
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On Thursday the European Court of Justice’s Advocate General rejected the Super League claim that UEFA’s governance of European football constitutes an illegal monopoly under EU competition law, in a non-binding opinion ahead of the court’s final ruling next year.
“The Super League isn’t dead, not at all, it’s very much alive,” Reichart said on Friday. “We’ll keep working until the judgement. We are still convinced that UEFA can’t be everything at once: they organize the competition, they regulate the competition, and at the same time they control access to the market. They’re judge and jury.
“In any sector, that would be intolerable, because there wouldn’t be any innovation… What the Advocate General’s opinion left clear is that [UEFA] have to open up access to the market, and their opinion must be subject to clear rules that limit them in that role.
“For me, that’s a step forward. Until next year we’ll keep working, proposing solutions, listening to the parties involved and developing our proposals. Obviously after that, we’ll need a solid legal basis to propose them.”
