Most press reports claimed that the CJEU Superleague judgement represented an utter defeat for FIFA and UEFA. This article reconsiders such conclusions in the light of a more attentive exam of the grounds of the Judgment.
On 21st December 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) issued its very long-awaited judgement in case C-333/21. The Judgement was released following a request for a referral coming from the Commercial Court of Madrid, pursuant to article 267 of the TFUE. This provision sets out a system of cooperation between the Court of Justice and the national courts, according to which – to solve a pending dispute at national level – the CJEU provides the national Court an interpretation of the Treaty’s provisions the national Court needs.
The questions concerned the compatibility of certain UEFA and FIFA statutory rules according to which the two sporting federations had reserved for themselves the right to approve any competing inter-club competitions which would take place in Europe. Such statutory rules…
