European Court of Justice (ECJ), European Union’s top court, has finally given out its final judgment on the European Super League project established in defiance of Europe’s football governing body UEFA. ECJ’s 15-judge grand chamber found that FIFA and UEFA are ‘abusing a dominant position’ in seeking to set conditions on how potential rival tournament organizers may access the market. The court commented that any such gatekeeper power over rival operators must be subject to ‘transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate’ criteria to allay conflicts of interest on the part of the sports governing bodies. The court didn’t endorse the Super League project though. A dozen of Europe’s leading football clubs set up the Super League in April 2021 but the project collapsed after several clubs pulled out following two days of ferocious opposition from fans, high-profile players, coaches, other clubs and politicians. The perception built in the public was, that the elite clubs have decided to play a tournament within themselves, as they don’t want the financially bleak clubs to play with them. The best teams of top European football-playing countries combined together to form this league, but it had to be dismantled within days due to outside pressure.

Source: Pro Pakistani