Wow, the football world is buzzing… and it could have some effect on the F1 community.
After a suspenseful year, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has made a ruling that might upset the balance in sports in the near future.
There has been a legal dispute involving traditional national leagues, as well as the UEFA and FIFA, against the promoters of a “European Super League.” The objective of the Super League would be to create a championship exclusively for elite European clubs (like Juventus, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG, and others), excluding the “smaller” national teams.
This would allow the bigger clubs to keep more of the revenue without sharing it with the smaller teams (although not all major clubs are in favor of the Super League).
The UEFA-organized Champions League would also be directly threatened in its existence if this possible second “Super-Champions League” were to be created.
In reaction to the clubs promoting the Super League, the UEFA had threatened to heavily sanction those who were opposed to it (like Real Madrid, who was leading the rebellion), even to the extent of excluding them from European competitions.
However, the organizers of the Super League had filed a complaint with the ECJ, arguing that the UEFA and FIFA were abusing their dominant position in European sports.
In the decision made yesterday, the ECJ has stated the following, which might also interest the F1 actors: “The organization of inter-club football competitions and the exploitation of media rights are clearly economic activities. As such, they must comply with competition rules and freedom of movement, even if the economic activity of sports is characterized by certain specificities.”
Therefore, according to the ECJ, the UEFA and FIFA, by threatening to sanction clubs wanting to create a parallel competition, are abusing their nearly monopolistic position in organizing competitions between European clubs. The proponents of the Super League have thus obtained a crucial legal victory.
A sports law expert summarized the situation for the newspaper Les Echos:“With this decision, we have confirmation of a tendency that leans towards competition law at the expense of the specificity of sports. This is potentially a big one, perhaps as important as the Bosman ruling” (which had completely liberalized the transfer of European players between clubs).
But what does this have to do with F1? Let’s find out…
Will the F1 also be affected by this legal earthquake?
By extension, the F1 could also be impacted by this ruling.
Indeed, in its ruling, the ECJ also notes the following: “When a dominant company has the power to determine the conditions under which potentially competitive companies can enter the market, this power must, given the risks of conflicts of interest it presents, be subject to criteria to ensure its transparency,”