Spanish football powerhouse Real Madrid has announced it will seek over €4 billion (more than US$4 billion) in damages from Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which they accuse of unfairly torpedoing the breakaway competition, a source told AFP on Thursday.
A Spanish court Wednesday dismissed appeals made by UEFA, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), and Spain’s top league (La Liga) against a previous decision that UEFA had abused its dominant market position by blocking the proposed breakaway European Super League in 2021.
Proposed in 2021 by 12 elite European clubs, including Real Madrid and Barcelona, the Super League project quickly collapsed due to fierce opposition from English clubs’ fans and threats from UEFA and FIFA. The European Court of Justice ruled in December 2023 that the ban on the Super League was contrary to European law.
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Last year, a Spanish judge said FIFA and UEFA had “prevented free competition” by opposing the Super League, ruling they were practicing anti-competitive behavior and abusing their dominant position. The court in Madrid on also rejected appeals filed by La Liga and the Spanish football federation.
The project’s promoter A22 Sports Management said it regretted that UEFA has “refused any path of compromise” and “reforms” despite several months of discussions, and claimed to have “no other choice” but “to initiate proceedings to obtain compensation for the damages suffered”.
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“After years of legal proceedings, UEFA can no longer ignore binding court decisions,” A22 CEO Bernd Reichart said.
The scope of the court’s decision is uncertain, however, as it tackles regulations that have been completely rewritten.
“This ruling does not validate the abandoned ‘super league’ project announced in 2021, nor does it undermine UEFA’s current authorization rules, adopted in 2022 and updated in 2024, which remain fully in force,” European football’s governing body said in a statement sent to AFP on Wednesday.
crifosports/30October25/AZ
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