FIFA, UEFA rules breach/do not breach EU competition rules, EU court adviser says

Football bodies UEFA and FIFA’s rules giving them the right to block clubs from joining a breakaway league and penalise players who do so are compatible with EU antitrust laws, an adviser to Europe’s top court said on Thursday.

FILE PHOTO: FIFA, UEFA rules breach/do not breach EU competition rules, an adviser to Europe’s top court said on Thursday. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Football bodies UEFA and FIFA’s rules giving them the right to block clubs from joining a breakaway league and penalise players who do so are compatible with EU antitrust laws, an adviser to Europe’s top court said on Thursday.

“The FIFA-UEFA rules under which any new competition is subject to prior approval are compatible with EU competition law,” Advocate General Athanasios Rantos at the EU Court of Justice (CJEU), Europe’s highest, said.

The case centers on the dispute between the two bodies and the European Super League last year which collapsed in less than 48 hours after an outcry by fans, governments and players forced Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid to pull out.

The case is C-333/21 European Superleague Company.