Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

EU-domstolen – fotbollsfantastens räddare i nöden? En konkurrensrättslig analys av den europeiska fotbollen

Nylén, Valdemar LU (2024) LAGF03 20242
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
For a long time, sport was something that EU’s legal framework only touched on with great caution. The European model of sport, based on open competitions and a pyramid structure built on the single-federation princi-ple with continental UEFA and international FIFA at the top, was long seen as sacred and inviolable. But since the Bosman ruling in the 1990s, the Eu-ropean Court of Justice has increasingly taken an interest in sport. The culmination (so far?) was reached on December 21, 2023, when the CJEU presented three rulings that, from a competition law perspective, over-turned certain regulations issued by sports governing bodies. Two of these, the Super League and Royal Antwerp, are presented in more detail in this work together with... (More)
For a long time, sport was something that EU’s legal framework only touched on with great caution. The European model of sport, based on open competitions and a pyramid structure built on the single-federation princi-ple with continental UEFA and international FIFA at the top, was long seen as sacred and inviolable. But since the Bosman ruling in the 1990s, the Eu-ropean Court of Justice has increasingly taken an interest in sport. The culmination (so far?) was reached on December 21, 2023, when the CJEU presented three rulings that, from a competition law perspective, over-turned certain regulations issued by sports governing bodies. Two of these, the Super League and Royal Antwerp, are presented in more detail in this work together with the Diarra decision. The aim of this study is to analyze, based on the historical treatment of sport, whether football's governing bod-ies are on a collision course with EU competition law.
This study concludes that in its decisions the CJEU balances two some-times conflicting objectives: the European model of sport on the one hand, and the rest of the Union's rules, in particular competition law, on the other. In the Super League and Royal Antwerp, the CJEU first set aside the Euro-pean model of sport in the form of Article 165 TFEU in favor of competi-tion law, but then reinstated it by referring to case law that establishes that sport has a special social and cultural significance to the Union.
Finally, the paper concludes that the CJEU safeguards both the European model of sport and the fundamental principles of the Union, and should UEFA or FIFA threaten these, the Court is likely to challenge their rules. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Länge var idrotten något unionsrätten endast berörde som försiktigast. Den europeiska idrottsmodellen som bygger på öppna tävlingar och en pyramid-struktur byggd på enfederationsprincipen med europeiska UEFA och inter-nationella FIFA i toppen sågs länge som helig och oantastbar. Men sedan Bosman-domen på 90-talet har EU-domstolen i allt högre grad tagit sig an sporten. Kulmen (hittills?) nåddes den 21 december 2023 när EU-domstolen presenterade tre avgöranden som ur ett konkurrensrättsperspek-tiv underkände vissa regelverk utfärdade av styrande idrottsorgan. Två av dessa, Super League och Royal Antwerp, presenteras närmare i detta arbete tillsammans med avgörandet Diarra som kom i oktober 2024. Målet med uppsatsen är att utifrån den... (More)
Länge var idrotten något unionsrätten endast berörde som försiktigast. Den europeiska idrottsmodellen som bygger på öppna tävlingar och en pyramid-struktur byggd på enfederationsprincipen med europeiska UEFA och inter-nationella FIFA i toppen sågs länge som helig och oantastbar. Men sedan Bosman-domen på 90-talet har EU-domstolen i allt högre grad tagit sig an sporten. Kulmen (hittills?) nåddes den 21 december 2023 när EU-domstolen presenterade tre avgöranden som ur ett konkurrensrättsperspek-tiv underkände vissa regelverk utfärdade av styrande idrottsorgan. Två av dessa, Super League och Royal Antwerp, presenteras närmare i detta arbete tillsammans med avgörandet Diarra som kom i oktober 2024. Målet med uppsatsen är att utifrån den historiska behandlingen av idrotten analysera om fotbollens styrande organ är på konkurrensrättslig kollisionskurs med EU-rätten.
Uppsatsen kommer fram till att EU-domstolen i sina avgöranden balanserar två ibland oförenliga målsättningar; dels den europeiska idrottsmodellen, dels resten av unionens bestämmelser, framför allt konkurrensrätten. I Su-per League och Royal Antwerp åsidosätter EU-domstolen först den europe-iska idrottsmodellen i form av artikel 165 FEUF till fördel för konkurrens-rätten, men därefter återinförs den genom att hänvisa till praxis som etable-rar att idrotten har en särskild social och kulturell betydelse för unionen.
Avslutningsvis konstaterar uppsatsen att EU-domstolen värnar om både den europeiska idrottsmodellen och unionens grundläggande principer och skulle UEFA eller FIFA hota dessa kommer domstolen troligen utmana deras regelverk. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Nylén, Valdemar LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20242
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Konkurrensrätt, EU-rätt, artikel 165 FEUF, FIFA, UEFA, den Europeiska idrottsmodellen
language
Swedish
id
9180433
date added to LUP
2025-03-20 14:17:01
date last changed
2025-03-20 14:17:01
@misc{9180433,
  abstract     = {{For a long time, sport was something that EU’s legal framework only touched on with great caution. The European model of sport, based on open competitions and a pyramid structure built on the single-federation princi-ple with continental UEFA and international FIFA at the top, was long seen as sacred and inviolable. But since the Bosman ruling in the 1990s, the Eu-ropean Court of Justice has increasingly taken an interest in sport. The culmination (so far?) was reached on December 21, 2023, when the CJEU presented three rulings that, from a competition law perspective, over-turned certain regulations issued by sports governing bodies. Two of these, the Super League and Royal Antwerp, are presented in more detail in this work together with the Diarra decision. The aim of this study is to analyze, based on the historical treatment of sport, whether football's governing bod-ies are on a collision course with EU competition law.
This study concludes that in its decisions the CJEU balances two some-times conflicting objectives: the European model of sport on the one hand, and the rest of the Union's rules, in particular competition law, on the other. In the Super League and Royal Antwerp, the CJEU first set aside the Euro-pean model of sport in the form of Article 165 TFEU in favor of competi-tion law, but then reinstated it by referring to case law that establishes that sport has a special social and cultural significance to the Union. 
Finally, the paper concludes that the CJEU safeguards both the European model of sport and the fundamental principles of the Union, and should UEFA or FIFA threaten these, the Court is likely to challenge their rules.}},
  author       = {{Nylén, Valdemar}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{EU-domstolen – fotbollsfantastens räddare i nöden? En konkurrensrättslig analys av den europeiska fotbollen}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}