Competition law 'no protection for Uefa from future European Super League breakaway'

Proposed soccer league could not be prevented by EU and UK competition rules, according to a leading expert in the field

The Super League was announced on Sunday night but UK clubs have since rowed back from the proposed league, and Ed Woodward announced he is standing down as Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman.

The threat to Uefa from a breakaway league is unlikely to go away, because EU and British competition law could not have stopped the European Super League, according to a leading Irish competition lawyer.   

Plans by 12 clubs in England, Spain, and Italy to set up an international competition in opposition to the Uefa were only unveiled over the weekend but collapsed after fans, former players, and some club managers spoke out against it. 

UK prime minister Boris Johnson had also threatened to bring to bear "a legislative bomb" and MPs had called for the British watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority, to get involved.                   

Uefa's counter-measures 'uncompetitive'

However, Ronan Dunne, head of regulated markets and EU law at law firm Philip Lee, said Uefa will unlikely be protected by EU anti-cartel law from any future plan, while the proposed European Super League probably had the better end of the argument in terms of competition law.

Under EU law, national sports organisations such as Uefa have certain rights — but its threat to impose additional rules against competition was uncompetitive, Mr Dunne said. He said Mr Johnson referred to the European Super League as a cartel but, pointedly, did not say that the breakaway was breaking competition law. 

He said that, in law, the European Super League had the better side of the argument because it was proposing the 12 clubs would continue to play in their national leagues while creating an additional competition that would not bar them from meeting their domestic commitments. 

Stifling competition is against the rules

The rules governing sporting bodies and competition law were only decided as recently as December, he said, and "the idea you could stop [Lionel] Messi from competing in the World Cup would have been contrary to EU competition law because Uefa would in that instance be attempting to stifle competition".    

He said proposed breakaways within national leagues would likely be different than the international competition proposed by the 12 clubs, because national competition law would rule on whether any breakaway was collectively dominant. 

If the European Super League had gone ahead, the British government could possibly have legislated for ownership structures of German clubs, but any move would likely have raised a host of other legal and business issues, Mr Dunne said.