UEFA unfazed by court ruling on abandoned Super League project

UEFA has maintained its stance on the abandoned European Super League (ESL) project after the Provincial Court of Madrid issued a new ruling this week, Marca reports.

The Provincial Court of Madrid’s 32nd section dismissed appeals filed by UEFA, La Liga, and the Spanish Football Federation against a previous ruling by Madrid’s Commercial Court No. 17.

The court ruling found FIFA and UEFA guilty of abusing their position and ordered them to “cease their anti-competitive conduct.”

The complaint was filed by the ESL Company (ESLC), which is backed by Real Madrid. UEFA has up to 20 days to appeal the ruling before Spain’s Supreme Court.

The European football governing body made it clear that the court’s decision “does not validate the abandoned Super League project announced in 2021”.

UEFA is also adamant that the decision does not affect its current authorisation rules, which were revised in 2022 and updated in 2024.

The governing body has made it clear that those rules “remain fully in force”.

While UEFA has acknowledged the ruling, it said that its regulations ensure “any cross-border competition is evaluated using objective, transparent, non-discriminatory, and proportionate criteria.”

The organisation also highlighted that this decision follows the European Parliament’s recent resolution opposing so-called “separatist competitions”.

They have warned that the decision could “endanger the entire sporting ecosystem.”

“UEFA remains firmly committed to the European sporting model,” a UEFA spokesperson said. “It is based on sporting merit, open access, solidarity and the protection of the football pyramid.

“It will continue to work with federations, leagues, clubs, players, fans and public authorities to safeguard the unity of European football.”

The governing body also added that it will carefully study the court’s decision before considering any further action.

The ongoing debacle is a result of a legal battle that started back in 2021, when several top clubs across Europe tried to break away from UEFA to form their own elite competition.

To protect the integrity of European football, UEFA revised its regulations in 2022 and set clear rules for authorising new international tournaments.

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