THE SPORT BETWEEN THE FREE MOVEMENT OF SERVICES AND COMPETITION LAW IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Abstract

The free movement of services is one of the four freedoms on which the single market is based, while competition law is one of the most exploited policies of the European Union. The paper elaborates on the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of December 2023 concerning the case brought by several football clubs against the football organizations FIFA and UEFA. Namely, several European football clubs, contrary to the statutes of FIFA and UEFA, which do not allow the creation of additional competitions beyond those already organized by these two organizations, started the creation of a so-called Super League that would be composed of the best European football clubs. The creation of the Super League has caused threats from UEFA and FIFA, not only to the clubs that want to be part of this project, but also to the players who are part of these clubs. To this end, the teams that want to be part of the Super League have brought proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union against UEFA and FIFA for abuse of their dominant position on the market, violation of the right to free movement of services and violation of competition rules. In addition, the paper also elaborates on the judgment of the Commercial Court in Madrid of April 2024 after the case was referred back to the national court by the CJEU. In conclusion, the authors give their views on how such a project will affect the game of football, the relationship of the clubs with FIFA and UEFA, but also how it will affect the most important part, which are the fans.