The wheels are grinding slowly through the European Union’s Court of Justice. Six months after the hearing pitting the three rebel Super League clubs (Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid) against UEFA, we have the initial non-binding ruling and it leans towards UEFA and the status quo, rather than claims that the governing body of European football is abusing its monopolistic control of the sport.
– Super League hopes fade after initial court ruling
You can read the press release here, but let’s break down the impact of the initial ruling on the Super League plans as well as what might follow.
Q: So what does this mean?
A: Strictly speaking, it means nothing because it’s not a final verdict. It’s an opinion filed by the Advocate General that is meant to inform the decision to be made later — probably in the spring, possibly in the summer — by the fifteen judges on the court. They will likely come up with a verdict by consensus — it’s not like the US Supreme Court, where cases are put to a vote with a dissenting opinion — and while they will take the Advocate General’s guidance into account, they don’t have to follow it.
However, according to those who follow such matters, in the vast majority of cases, the court will largely follow the Advocate General’s reasoning at least 65% of the time and another 25% of the time, they will reach a largely similar conclusion with a different legal argument. Only in one case out of 10 will seem them have a sharp divergence of opinion, which makes this a decent bellwether of how things might go.
On the other hand, according to others familiar with the process, the judges tend to be more independent minded than the Advocate General, who often falls in line with the current institutional and political will of governments. In short, it’s encouraging for UEFA, FIFA, the European Club Association and all those who favor what’s known as the “European Sports Model” — essentially, a pyramid structure with promotion and relegation sanctioned by a governing body.
Q: So we won’t see a breakaway European Super League, then?
A: The case was never really about that because clubs are in fact free to form their own competitions with whoever they like, whenever they like. That has always been the case and that hasn’t changed. The question is whether clubs can form and run their own leagues and competition while remaining in the current football ecosystem run by FIFA and UEFA — if you recall, this is what the European Super League was all about.
