Abstract
The football industry finds itself at a turning point. Through the recent rise and steep fall of the Super League, the concept of a super breakaway league in football is once again at the center of the discussions among football stakeholders. Whilst the key discussion points of such breakaway projects seem to be primarily of a commercial and political nature, EU competition law could also have a crucial impact on the success rate of these initiatives. Sports governing bodies often build in control mechanisms which require their consent prior to the establishment of new third-party competition, often complemented with a severe sanctioning mechanism for athletes participating in non-authorized events. In the ISU case, the European Commission and the General Court found such an ex-ante control mechanism to be contrary to EU competition law in certain circumstances. This Article will analyze UEFA’s ex-ante control system in light of the decision in the ISU case. If the football pyramid desires to uphold its control mechanism it should introduce objective, non-discriminatory, transparent, and proportionate criteria, as well as proportionate sanctions. This article will also analyze whether the Super League's own set-up is compliant with EU competition law.
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