Bomb in world football: why the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union can change the course of football

It could be a before and after in the 160 years of organized football. This Thursday the 21st, at 9:30 Luxembourg time, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will issue a ruling that could change the history of this sport. It will have to decide whether UEFA has a monopoly on organizing football tournaments. Antitrust laws are one of the fundamental principles of the political community that makes up 27 countries of the Old Continent. If the CJEU rules that UEFA can continue organizing its tournaments, but not exclusively, the entire organization of this sport in Europe and, from there, of FIFA itself and the other confederations in the rest of the planet will change. It would even drag other sports. In short, it would be an earthquake with absolutely unpredictable consequences.

If that happens – and the European media assures that it will happen – the company A22 Sports Management will immediately announce the creation of the European Super League, a new tournament that will distribute multimillion-dollar prizes, much higher than those of UEFA. The clubs from these 27 countries will be free to leave the Champions League and play in the Super League without being disaffiliated or sanctioned by UEFA or their national associations. A22 Sports confirmed that it already has 60 teams approved, led by those two transatlantic teams that are Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​the two that supported the project and for which they will receive, before starting to play, 1,000 million euros each. For Barça, whose debt is monstrous, it would be economic salvation. The Super League seeks to concentrate the most powerful clubs and the federations know that if they penalize their most popular institutions, for example, Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid, their league would be reduced to nothing. The same would happen with Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, etc.

According to what is anticipated, the Super League would already have the OK, among others, of PSV and Feyenoord (Holland), Porto, Benfica and Sporting (Portugal), Red Star (Serbia), Anderlecht (Belgium)… Those for the start, then others would be added. The tournament would, in principle, be by invitation.

The ruling will not say “UEFA won” or “Super League won.” He will refer to the fact that there should be no monopolies in the EU. Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA, and his ally Nasser Al-Khelaifi, head of Paris Saint Germain and the ECA (European Club Association), are already gathering signatures to commit as many clubs as possible to staying in their competition, but in In Europe, most institutions are companies and they are after money. Being free to choose, they will opt for the tournament that gives them the most profit.

There is an important additional element: a club that has not qualified in its league to compete in the Champions League or Europa League could go to play in the Super League and not lose international competition. The variables that the ruling of the Luxembourg court would unleash are unimaginable. Even other companies could create new competitions since no one would have an organizational monopoly. The Super League, financed by large banks with excess liquidity, would start with a pot of 15,000 million euros to be distributed. Spectators would decide which tournament to watch, whether the traditional UEFA tournament – the Champions – or the Super League, which would bring together the most renowned: Madrid, Barça, Bayern Munich, Milan, Inter, Juventus…

There are dozens of questions that would arise after the ruling: Which titles would be worth more…? What will the footballers, represented by the FIFpro, decide…? What position will the powerful English teams take now that their country is not a member of the European Union…? Will the Super League respect FIFA dates so as not to hinder local or national team tournaments…? Because the Super League would offer succulent prizes to the players and they would perhaps choose to stay and play in that tournament and not play for their national teams. Would there be another company, or A22 Sports itself, that would want to come to South America and organize a parallel Libertadores, with many more millions than Conmebol gives…?

And something transcendental: if UEFA loses the exclusivity to govern the tournaments, the national federations, included within the EU, would also lose it.

Bernd Reichart, German, 49 years old, with extensive experience in the media and television business, president of A22 Sports Management, explained in a statement: “There is still a lot of confusion, but what is really happening is that UEFA “It has an absolute monopoly on the football board and the court will determine whether that monopoly is allowed to continue or whether it must fall.” He added that “all domestic Leagues are operated and managed by the participating clubs. It is only at European level that clubs have no say. “We firmly trust the court and the laws of the European Union that guide it.” Very convinced, he concluded: “after reading and accepting the resolution and confirming that UEFA’s monopoly is illegal, we will finally be able to make public the result of more than a year of conversations with shareholders of different clubs. “We will propose an open-format European competition for more than sixty teams and we will ensure that all of them will be treated equally and fairly.”

If the antitrust ruling comes out, the pyramid scheme in the organization of world football would fall. A22 Sports focuses – for now – only on club football, FIFA, UEFA and other confederations would continue to manage activity at the national team level, but they would be weakened. The blow would be catastrophic. Gianni Infantino, the all-powerful president of the Zurich parent company, would have the floor shaken. The Slovenian Aleksander Ceferín, a prestigious lawyer in his homeland, son and brother of lawyers as well, has until now shown a granite firmness in his management, a total tough one, but Reichart and the conglomerate of investors he represents have shaken him: they appealed to a strategic point, the antitrust principle of the European Union. The money power of FIFA and UEFA, threatened by the same resource: more money.

The Luxembourg court that will decide on Thursday is the same one that sanctioned the Bosman Law in 1995, which forever changed the relationship between clubs and footballers. It declared transfer compensation once the contract and foreigner quotas illegal when applied to citizens of the European Union, understanding that such rules de facto prevented the free contracting of players and contradicted labor and commercial regulations of the European Union. The Liege club, from Belgium, had enslaving behavior with Jean-Marc Bosman. Due to a short circuit with the leaders, they reduced his salary by 60%; Bosman waited for his relationship with the club to end and found another team, Dunkerke, from the French Second Division. Lieja stood up: either he renewed with them or he wanted $800,000 in compensation if he left. Bosman went to court and won in a historic ruling: he was considered free. At that time, the 1957 Treaty of Rome was appealed to, which established the free movement of European workers within the countries of the Union.

Nothing is defined yet, however, the football government is against the wall. On Thursday he may receive a death blow.