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Governing Bodies

European Super League back in spotlight after landmark ruling

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UEFA Press Conference - UEFA Headquarters, Nyon, Switzerland - December 21, 2023 UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin during the press conference in this screengrab obtained on Zoom UEFA/Handout via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights

Summary

  • EU court says FIFA, UEFA abused dominant position by forbidding clubs from joining breakaway league
  • Landmark EU ruling could change way soccer is run
  • Sport development company A22 announces plans for new competition
  • Real Madrid, Barcelona say ruling opens way for new league
  • Man United, Bayern Munich say they remain committed to UEFA

 

UEFA and FIFA contravened EU law by stopping the formation of a Super League, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said on Thursday, but though breakaway organisers welcomed the ruling, major leagues and clubs moved quickly to support the status quo.

The decision stirred up the arguments that swirled around the original Super League plan in 2021 as the ECJ has ruled against the principle of the governing bodies restricting a new league, but crucially added that the judgment did not necessarily mean such a league must be approved.

The 12 leading European clubs that proposed forming the breakaway league (ESL), which sparked widespread protests among fans, had been threatened with sanctions by UEFA if they went ahead with the plan, leading to nine of them pulling out.

Sports development company A22, formed to assist with creating the ESL, had claimed UEFA and global governing body FIFA held a monopoly position which was in breach of the EU’s Competition and Free Movement Law.

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Soon after the verdict A22 released plans for a new competition that would feature 64 men’s teams and 32 women’s teams competing in a midweek league, threatening UEFA’s flagship Champions League tournament.

In its ruling, the EU’s top court said that FIFA and UEFA abused their dominant position by forbidding clubs to compete in a European Super League, although that project may still not be approved as the court did not rule on it specifically.

UEFA, FIFA, Football Supporters Europe, LaLiga, the European Club Association, European Leagues and FIFPro Europe said in a joint statement: “There is no place for any type of ‘super league’ in Europe. Sporting merit is what counts.”

UEFA has organised pan-European competitions for nearly 70 years and sees the ESL project as a significant threat to the lucrative Champions League, for which teams qualify on merit.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and nine other top clubs announced the breakaway plan in April, 2021.

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But the move collapsed within 48 hours after an outcry from fans, governments and players forced Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid to pull out.

A22 CEO Bernd Reichart said in an interview with Reuters that the new competition would win over fans by providing a tournament that was more competitive and by making it free to view on television.

“This is what makes this proposal so fan-centric and so attractive to every fan,” Reichart said.

Shares in Juventus, listed on the Italian Stock Exchange, rose more than 10% on prospects for a revived ESL, with trading having to be halted because of excessive volatility.

SHORTFALL ADDRESSED

UEFA said the ruling did not signify an endorsement or validation of the Super League and that it had addressed a shortfall which had been highlighted in its own framework.

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“We will not try to stop them. They can create whatever they want. I hope they start their fantastic competition as soon as possible, with two clubs,” UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin told a news conference.

FIFA said it would analyse the decision in coordination with UEFA, other confederations and the member associations before commenting further.

“With the greatest respect for the European Court of Justice, today’s judgement does not change anything, really,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said.

“Historically, we have been organising the best competitions in the world and this will also be the case in the future.”

Manchester United and Bayern Munich issued statements saying they remained committed to UEFA’s competitions while domestic leagues across Europe rejected the Super League.

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The UK government said it was working on legislation to prevent English clubs from joining another breakaway competition.

Reichart said the ESL was not a breakaway league and that it would be compatible with domestic league calendars.

Spain’s LaLiga said: “Today, more than ever, we reiterate that the ‘Super League’ is a selfish and elitist model.”

The court’s ruling said FIFA and UEFA must “comply with the competition rules and respect the freedoms of movement”, adding that their rules on approval, control and sanctions amounted to “unjustified restrictions on the freedom to provide services”.

“That does not mean that a competition such as the Super League project must necessarily be approved. The Court, having been asked generally about the FIFA and UEFA rules, does not rule on that specific project in its judgment,” it concluded.

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After the collapse of the ESL plan, only three clubs remained in support of it, but Juventus opted to pull out this year after their former chairman Andrea Agnelli, one of the figures behind the project, and the club’s board resigned in November 2022.

SPANISH COURT

Real and Barcelona still hoped to go ahead with the competition and the ESL took its case to a Spanish court, which subsequently sought guidance from the Luxembourg-based European Court.

Real Madrid President Florentino Perez said the ruling marked “a before and after” for football.

“The present and future of European football are finally in the hands of the clubs, the players and their fans,” Perez said in a pre-recorded video statement.

Barcelona said they were satisfied with the ruling and that the creation of the ESL would allow football to address issues of fixture overload, putting “local and international players and supporters at the centre”.

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“The medium-term sustainability of European football entails the need create a concept along the lines of the Super League,” the club said in a statement.

The ruling will now be considered by the Spanish court, where a judge can apply its responses to facts of the case.

-Reuters

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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Governing Bodies

IOC is in ‘best of hands’, says Bach as he hands over to Coventry

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International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry receives the ceremonial key from outgoing IOC President Thomas Bach during the handover ceremony. AFP

Kirsty Coventry became the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the most powerful person in sport, on Monday in a handover ceremony with her predecessor Thomas Bach.

The Zimbabwean is the first woman and African to head the body, and at 41, the youngest since Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who is credited with founding the modern-day Olympics.

Coventry accepted the Olympic key from Bach, who, like her, is an Olympic champion — he won a team fencing gold in 1976 and she earned two swimming golds in 2004 and 2008.

Stepping down after a turbulent 12-year tenure, Bach expressed his confidence that the Olympic movement was “in the best of hands” and Coventry would bring “conviction, integrity and a dynamic perspective” to the role.

Coventry, who swept to a crushing first-round victory in the election in Greece in March, leans heavily on her family.

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Aside from her parents, who were present at the ceremony in Lausanne, there is her husband Tyrone Seward, who was effectively her campaign manager, and two daughters, six-year-old Ella, who Bach addresses as “princess”, and Lily, just seven months old.

“Ella saw this spider web in the garden and I pointed out how it is made, and how strong and resilient it is to bad weather and little critters,” said Coventry, who takes over officially at midnight Swiss time Monday (2200 GMT).

“But if one little bit breaks it becomes weaker. That spider web is our movement, it is complex, beautiful and strong but it only works if we remain together and united.”

‘Pure passion’

Coventry said she could not believe how her life had evolved since she first dreamt of Olympic glory in 1992.

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“How lucky are we creating a platform for generations to come to reach their dreams,” she said to a packed audience in a marquee in the Olympic House garden, which comprised IOC members, including those she defeated, and dignitaries.

“It is amazing and incredible, indeed I cannot believe that from my dream in 1992 of going to an Olympic Games and winning a medal I would be standing here with you to make dreams for more young children round the world.”

Coventry, who served in the Zimbabwean government as sports and arts Minister from 2019 to this year, said the Olympic movement was much more than a “multi-sport event platform.”

“We (IOC members) are guardians of this movement, which is also about inspiring and changing lives and bringing hope,” she said.

“These things are not to be taken lightly and I will be working with each and every one of you to continue to change lives and be a beacon of hope in a divided world.

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“I am really honoured to walk this journey with you.”

Bach, who during his tenure had to grapple with Russian doping and their invasions of the Crimea and Ukraine as well as the Covid pandemic, said he was standing down filled with “gratitude, joy and confidence” in his successor.

“With her election it sends out a powerful message, that the IOC continues to evolve,” said the 71-year-old German, who was named honorary lifetime president in Greece in March.

“It has its first female and African to hold this position, and the youngest president since Pierre de Coubertin. She represents the truly global and youthful spirit of our community.”

Bach, who choked back tears at one point during his valedictory speech, was praised to the rafters by Coventry, who was widely seen as his preferred candidate of the seven vying for his post.

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After a warm embrace, she credited him with teaching her to “listen to people and to respect them,” and praised him for leading the movement with “pure passion and purpose.”

“You have kept us united through the most turbulent times.

“You left us with many legacies and hope, thank you from the bottom of my heart for leading us with passion and never wavering from our values.”

-AFP

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Governing Bodies

New IOC head Coventry already counting down to LA 2028

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Kirsty Coventry takes over as the new International Olympic Committee President - IOC headquarters, Lausanne, Switzerland - June 23, 2025 New IOC president Kirsty Coventry during the ceremony REUTERS/Pierre Albouy

Former Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry took over the leadership of the International Olympic Committee from Thomas Bach in a ceremony on Monday with the 2028 Los Angeles Games already threatening to fill her in-tray to overflowing.

Coventry, who starts her eight-year spell officially on Tuesday as the most powerful sports administrator in the world, became the first woman and first African to be elected head of the Olympic ruling body in March.

Much of the discussion during campaigning focused on the IOC’s need for change in its marketing strategies with several top Olympic sponsors having left in the past 12 months.

However, with Los Angeles hit by protests against immigration raids, and relations tense between state and city officials, and the U.S. government, the 2028 Games have become the major talking point in the movement that would ordinarily be focusing on next year’s Milano-Cortina Winter Games.

Coventry has long-standing ties with the United States, dating back to her time as a leading swimmer at Auburn University in Alabama. That will prove useful ahead of LA 2028, and she has said she will seek to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump to discuss the Games.

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Coventry will also need to find time to help secure the long-term finances of the movement. The IOC, which generates billions of dollars in revenues each year in sponsorship and broadcasting deals for the Olympics, has secured $7.3 billion for 2025-28 and $6.2 billion for 2029-2032. More contracts are expected for both periods.

COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES

Coventry is also expected to continue the IOC’s plans to expand commercial opportunities for sponsors at the Olympics with the organisation’s finances in a robust state and the privately-funded LA Olympics a good place to start.

Coventry needed only one round of voting to clinch the race to succeed Bach, beating six other candidates, making history for the African continent, with the IOC having been ruled for 131 years by European or North American men.

Her background and being the first female president will be assets in a diverse IOC membership and the international makeup of Olympic stakeholders.

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On Monday she was handed the golden key to the IOC by Bach, who was the organisation’s president for 12 years.

“I am really honoured I get to walk this journey with you. I cannot wait for anything that lies ahead,” Coventry said in her address to IOC members and other Olympic stakeholders.

“I know I have the best team to support me and our movement over the next eight years.”

Coventry will hold a two-day workshop this week to get feedback from members on key IOC issues.

“Working together and consistently finding ways to strengthen and keep united our movement that will ensure that we wake up daily… to continue to inspire,” she said.

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A seven-time Olympic medallist, Coventry won 200m backstroke gold at the 2004 Athens Games and in Beijing four years later.

“With her election, you have also sent a powerful message to the world: the IOC continues to evolve,” Bach said in his speech. “With Kirsty Coventry, the Olympic movement will be in the best of hands.”

-Reuters

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Governing Bodies

Accidental double-touch penalties must be retaken if scored, says IFAB

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Champions League - Round of 16 - Second Leg - Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid - Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - March 12, 2025 Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez scores a penalty during the penalty shootout wich is later disallowed after a VAR review for a double touch. REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo

Penalties scored when a player accidentally touches the ball twice must be retaken, world soccer’s lawmaking body IFAB has said after Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez had his spot kick disallowed in a Champions League last-16 match.

During a tense shootout with Real Madrid in March, Argentine forward Alvarez slipped and the VAR spotted that his left foot touched the ball slightly before he kicked it with his right.

Although Alvarez converted the penalty, the goal was chalked off and Atletico went on to lose the shootout and were eliminated from the Champions League.

European soccer’s governing body UEFA said the correct decision was made under the current laws but IFAB (International Football Association Board) has said that in such cases the penalty must be retaken.

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Atletico Madrid v Real Valladolid – Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain – April 14, 2025 Atletico Madrid’s Julian Alvarez scores their first goal from the penalty spot REUTERS/Susana Vera/File Photo

“(When) the penalty taker accidentally kicks the ball with both feet simultaneously or the ball touches their non-kicking foot or leg immediately after the kick: if the kick is successful, it is retaken,” IFAB said in a circular.

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“If the kick is unsuccessful, an indirect free kick is awarded (unless the referee plays advantage when it clearly benefits the defending team). In the case of penalties (penalty shootout), the kick is recorded as missed.”

The decision to disallow Alvarez’s penalty left Atletico boss Diego Simeone livid and the club’s fans outraged.

IFAB added that if the penalty taker deliberately kicks the ball with both feet or deliberately touches it a second time, an indirect free kick is awarded or, in the case of shootouts, it is recorded as missed.

The new procedures are effective for competitions starting on or after July 1, but IFAB said it may be used in competitions that start this month.

-Reuters

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