Football and Antitrust: “No more monopoly of FIFA and UEFA on the organization of competitions”
The Global Stage Social Media Soccer hosted the meeting “Football and Antitrust: The impact of recent EU Court of Justice cases on current issues.” The protagonists were Saverio Valentino (Member of the Board AGCM) and Salvatore Lamarca (Antitrust Lawyer and Author of the book “Sport and European Law”), moderated by Francesca Buttara (Founder DOWELL). We are facing a profound transition, a new era following the rulings of the European Court that place football within the market, a sector that must comply with principles of competition, transparency, and proportionality. How are these rulings changing the vision of football ? This is the question at the heart of the discussion.
At the heart of the issues addressed was a recognized change in the conception of sport. Lawyer Salvatore Lamarca commented on this: “Sport has not always been viewed in economic terms. In common parlance, sport is seen as separate from economics, but this is not the case. Football is a real industry. Technological developments in television have made the sports sector attractive from the point of view of the television rights market, first nationally and then internationally. As a result, there has been an increase in interest and controversy surrounding issues that all have an economic basis.”
On this subject, lawyer Saverio Valentino gave his interpretation, from the perspective of the competition and market authority: “FIFA and UEFA are regulators, and the Court of Justice recognizes that they can continue to be so. But, as we saw with the ‘Super League case’, since the regulators are also organizers, a conflict of interest may arise. Therefore, in this sense, these regulators can organize their competitions but must establish rules so that other players can organize competitions that may compete with theirs. Thus, there is no longer a monopoly on the organization of such competitions.”
The importance of competitive balance was emphasized by lawyer Lamarca: “The Court of Justice recognizes that footballl and sport are economic activities subject to economic law. At the same time, European law recognizes the specificity of sport within these rules. Returning to the topic of competition. In sport, as in football, there cannot be a single protagonist, but there must be a need to preserve competitive balance. The Court of Justice has attempted to maintain this balance: equilibrium, solidarity among participants, fairness.”
On the Super League case, lawyer Valentino’s position is clear. He reiterated that FIFA and UEFA must establish non-discriminatory, transparent, and proportionate criteria to ensure that competitions can coexist with international ones. A fundamental rule at the European level, in this sense, is sporting merit. The Court of Justice believes that this is a fundamental criterion that FIFA and UEFA must take into account.
