Brussels still dim on football Super League despite UEFA court loss

BRUSSELS — A bid to revive a European football Super League is unlikely to find a sympathetic audience in Brussels despite the court victory the breakaway contest scored last week.

A Spanish appeals court called foul on European football’s organizing body, ruling that UEFA had illegally stifled an attempt by a dozen top clubs from Spain, Italy and England to form their own contest.

The EU “will continue to advocate for the strengthening of our sport model, our national leagues and grassroot sport,” Glenn Micallef, commissioner for culture and sport, said in a statement to POLITICO reacting to the judgment. 

The Maltese commissioner said the EU executive would continue to work with UEFA and LaLiga — the European and Spanish federations found by the Madrid court to have breached EU competition law — in order to ensure that money is redistributed from the top clubs to amateur leagues.

In June, the Spanish competition authority opened an antitrust investigation into UEFA’s conduct, a case which observers — including a former advocate general — think should be taken up by the European Commission.

“[The Super League] contradicts the principles of the European Sports Model and collapsed in 2021 because it was a bad idea from the start,” said Micallef, noting that it was rejected by fans, players and governments across Europe at the time.

The commissioner’s comment follows the European Parliament’s adoption of a resolution in October that stated the legislative body’s opposition to “breakaway competitions.”

Both Real Madrid and A22 Sports Management have said that they will seek damages from UEFA following the court ruling.

Despite the Super League’s collapse in 2021, its backers have continued to try to organize a breakaway competition. 

In response to last Wednesday’s judgment, A22 said that it had held extensive discussions with UEFA officials aimed at creating an open, cross-border football competition, but that the Switzerland-based federation “refused to pursue a compromise.”

“UEFA is clearly legally obliged to recognise A22’s right to organize competitions on an equal footing with their own,” the firm said in a statement.

UEFA has said that it will carefully review the judgment before deciding on further steps.