The European Court of Justice puts a brake on the creation of closed clubs for privileged groups, following the relevant recommendation of the Greek Attorney General, Athanasios Radu, who took a clear stance in favor of UEFA in his litigation with the European Super League (ESL). ). Led by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus, teams of huge proportions and huge fan bases around the world, the 12 clubs that formed a partnership in 2020 with the ultimate goal of organizing a closed luxury league that will soar to the unimaginable heights. their income, they went to court to weaken the UEFA “ban” and avoid its harsh penalties.

This case led to months of legal dispute at the highest level with the proposal of Mr. Radu, former President of the Council of State, to exonerate the European Federation on the grounds that “the rules of UEFA and FIFA, according to which any new competition is subject to their prior approval, does not contradict the relevant the legislation of the European Union”. In a word, it was possible to implement such an undertaking without consequences for the teams only with the consent of UEFA, which is categorically against division – a bomb in the foundations of European football.

How development affects both European basketball and the relationship between the Euroleague and FIBA.

The recommendation of the Advocate General is not binding, but in practice the European Court very rarely ignores it. A decision is expected at the beginning of 2023, with another important point of the conclusion being the possibility of imposing sanctions on those clubs “participating in projects aimed at creating a new competition that could create a risk of undermining the legitimate goals that these are the federations of which they are members. clubs.”

The announcement of the proposal was noted on UEFA’s Twitter, but received with skepticism by FIBA ​​as it also directly affects the area of ​​basketball where the balances are different: if the top teams decide to secede to develop the Euroleague and turn it into a closed “club”, their eventual expulsion will weaken the national championships and completely uncoordinate the national teams. And all this at a time when critical consultations are underway to create a calendar that will allow players from Euroleague clubs to participate in the “windows” of the national teams.