This court has partially upheld the lawsuit filed by the European Super League Company (ESLC), based in Madrid, against UEFA and FIFA, and has declared that both organizations have abused their dominant position and are preventing free competition in the market.

UEFA and FIFA claim "the discretionary power to prohibit participation in alternative competitions and impose unjustified and disproportionate restrictions", which violates the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the High Court of Justice (TSJ) of Madrid also states.

In this way, the lawsuit filed by the ESLC, the body that announced the creation of a European Super League in 2021, against UEFA and FIFA, which from the outset announced that they would exclude clubs and players from their competitions if they participated in the new project, has been partially upheld.

The court orders FIFA and UEFA, who can appeal the ruling, "to cease the sanctioned anti-competitive conduct" and prohibits "its future repetition", in addition to ordering them "to immediately remove all the effects of anti-competitive actions that occurred before or during the validity of this procedure".

In April 2021, the ESLC announced the launch of the Super League, initially promoted by the Spanish clubs Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid, the Italian clubs AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus and the English clubs Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham.

The first version of the Super League project was quickly buried due, in particular, to the opposition of the fans of the English clubs and the threats from UEFA and FIFA, and some of its subscribers gradually left.

The initial idea of a closed competition for 20 clubs, with the founding teams, some guests and others that would be classified annually by their performance, was later changed to an open competition, with 64 participants, promotions and relegations, and also with a women's tournament for 32 clubs.

The decision released today points out that "although the Super League, in the terms initially raised in the lawsuit, that is, according to the initial project", has already been discarded by its promoters, "the petitions in relation to it must also decline".

But "there is no room to impose a prohibition or restriction in the abstract, that is, to impose a future prohibition on any other project or modification of the one already presented", it states.

"To admit the contrary would mean accepting a kind of prohibition or shielding of any football competition project presented by the plaintiffs, which is not acceptable", it adds.

In this way, "it will be up to the parties involved to modify and adapt it later".

"This does not determine that the authorization of any contest is the object of the procedure, but rather to lay the foundations for channeling a free competition system for the organization of football competitions", the decision highlights.