It has been announced that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will announce its verdict on the validity and legitimacy of the European Super League (ESL) in December.
On Thursday 21st December 2023, a binding interpretation of European Union law will be passed and handed down. This will determine whether governing bodies, UEFA and FIFA, acted against the law in threatening clubs that were involved with the ESL.
Late in April 2021, the ESL was announced in what appeared a rushed manner with several clubs left out of the proposal, such as German sides Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund as well as French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
A report released by the ECJ last year suggested that UEFA and FIFA had acted within the rules and were ‘compatible with EU competition law’. A final judgment was expected in the spring but that was never forthcoming,
12 of the initial 15 clubs backed out of its launch within 72 hours. A third, Juventus, departed the ESL in July, with just Spain’s Clasico giants, Barcelona and Real Madrid, remaining within the organisation and pact.
Weeks after the announcement, UEFA confirmed a proposal to tweak the current UEFA Champions League format into a ‘Swiss’ model. This involved a 36-team league in which each side will play eight matches, based on relevant seedings.
The top eight will go through to the knockout stages with the teams that finish from 9th to 24th playing off against each other before joining them in a Round of 16. That format is due to come in to action in the 2023/24 season. It also means that two extra spots will be left open for the teams that finish one place outside of the UEFA Champions League qualifying spots from the two countries’ leagues that perform best in the previous European season.
