The “Super League” case has initiated by some of the leading European football clubs with the aim of creating a new international competition alternative to those organized by FIFA and UEFA. In its judgment of 21 December 2023, Case C-333/21 (European Superleague Company SL v. FIFA and UEFA), the Court of Justice of the European Union affirmed the principle that the organization of sporting competitions – traditionally considered the exclusive domain of the sporting legal order – is subject to EU law where economic interests are involved. While this principle aligns with the Court’s established case law, which tends to extend the application of EU law to the sporting sector when economic activities are at stake, it also appears to offer a rather narrow interpretation of the so-called sporting exception, effectively stripping the governing bodies of the sporting legal system of their prerogative to organize competitions and confining their autonomy to the mere determination of the rules of the game (“purely sporting rules”). This article first reconstructs the events that brought the Super League case before the Court of Justice, then analyzes the judgment of 21 December 2023, Case C-333/21, in order to assess its actual scope and potential implications in the broader context of the relationship between the sporting legal order and political legal systems, both national and European.
University of Molise, Italy
Chapter Title
Il caso Superlega
Authors
Simone Francario
Language
Italian
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0887-1.13
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Il diritto sportivo tra autonomia e antinomie
Book Subtitle
Atti del seminario «Giornate senesi sullo sport» Siena, 22 maggio 2024
Editors
Roberto Borrello, Antonio Riviezzo
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
254
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press, USiena Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0887-1
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0886-4
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0887-1
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-0888-8
Series Title
Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze politiche e internazionali
Series ISSN
3035-5850
Series E-ISSN
3035-5664