A European football Super League: the legal and practical issues

Dunbar, Neil

Abstract

In 2021 football faced the possibility of a breakaway European Super League (ESL) being formed with the participation of 12 of Europe’s leading clubs. While the concept was not new, the reason for its re-emergence were the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, together with a number of leading clubs having American owners who tend to adopt a profit maximisation approach to running sports clubs. The quick demise of the proposed ESL because of a upporter backlash meant that some of the potential legal issues did not eventuate. However, if the ESL had proceeded, the governing bodies of the domestic leagues could have banned the participating clubs from playing in their competitions, and the leading clubs may have experienced contractual difficulties in requiringtheir players to play in the ESL. Although it may not be possible for UEFA to legally prevent the formation of a rival competition, it is argued that it would not be advantageous for UEFA to operate its own ESL. Australian sport has seen the formation of similar breakaway competitions, and the situation that occurred in European football this year is a reminder to governing bodies of the need to ensure that all stakeholders remain satisfied with how the sport is conducted.

Journal

James Cook University Law Review

Publication Name

N/A

Volume

ISBN/ISSN

1839-2792

Edition

N/A

Issue

N/A

Pages Count

Location

N/A

Publisher

James Cook University

Publisher Url

N/A

Publisher Location

N/A

Publish Date

N/A

Url

N/A

Date

N/A

EISSN

N/A

DOI

N/A