Sports associations that regulate and organise competitions must comply with competition law. They abuse their dominant position if they unfairly ban other competitions. Sports associations may, however, attach conditions to new competitions. This European Court of Justice (ECJ) has issued a ruling to that effect.
The reason for the ruling is a dispute between the Super League on the one hand and international football association FIFA and European football federation UEFA on the other hand. The Super League is an initiative of major European football clubs to set up a new football league alongside existing leagues. The Super League filed a case in Spain against FIFA and UEFA for refusing to recognise the Super League. The football associations have also stated that clubs and players that joined the Super League would be excluded from competitions organised by FIFA and UEFA. The Spanish court then presented preliminary questions to the ECJ.
In its judgment, the ECJ explained that the ‘European dimension in sport’ exception (Article 165 TFEU), which enshrines the promotion of fair sport, must be interpreted restrictively. The ECJ clarified that only sporting rules (such as the rules of the game and doping rules) fall outside competition law. If sports associations carry out economic activities (such as organising sports competitions or exploiting media rights), they are subject to the competition rules, including the prohibition of abuse of a dominant position (Article 102 TFEU).
The ECJ considers it permissible for professional international sports competitions to be subject to rules, to ensure the uniformity and coordination of those competitions within an umbrella sports calendar. Sports associations that regulate and organise competitions have a special responsibility not to prejudice competition.
Sports associations may not abuse their regulatory powers to favour their own competitions and thwart new competitions without legitimate justification. The rules applied by sports associations must be transparent, objective, proportionate and non-discriminatory. The ECJ found that FIFA and UEFA's regulations do not meet these requirements. FIFA and UEFA may, however, attach conditions to any new competition.
The ECJ’s press release gave rise to confusion about this ruling. The media suggested, for instance, that the way was clear for the creation of the Super League. At the same time, UEFA issued a statement indicating that the ECJ’s ruling merely underlined an already identified technical shortcoming within UEFA's regulatory framework. It will be interesting to see how UEFA fixes this and what it means in practice for the Super League.
This ruling also has implications for other European and national sports associations that regulate and organise competitions: they too must comply with the competition rules. If they fail to do so, they may be abusing their dominant position if they unfairly prohibit other competitions. That may give rise to the risk of fines being imposed by competition authorities and to claims for damages from competing organisers or individual athletes.
This blog has also been published in the Snelrecht section of the Mr. journal.
Information on dawn raids by the ACM and the European Commission can be found at invalacm.nl.
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