‘We will ban you’ – Uefa convinced it will WIN court battle to punish European Super League rebels
UEFA chiefs are confident they will be cleared to take action against the remaining Super League rebels after a landmark legal case next month.
The European Court of Justice has announced it has scheduled a two-day hearing for the case accusing Uefa of “abuse of a dominant position” by blocking the creation of the breakaway competition.
Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus were backed by the Spanish capital’s “Mercantile Court” in what was seen by Uefa bosses as an “in-house” ruling.
That court’s judgement that Uefa had no right to impose any punishment on the three rebels was subsequently overturned by a higher court in Spain.
Uefa, though, made clear it would await the outcome of the trio’s ECJ case, which will now be heard in Luxembourg on July 11 and 12, before taking its next steps.
And with judges indicating they will give an “expedited” verdict, Uefa’s Nyon hierarchy expect to get a legal win and the green light to go after the three clubs in a matter of weeks.
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Lawyers for the clubs will argue that Uefa acted outside its mandate in crushing the Super League plan in the space of 48 hours in April 2021.
Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin marshalled his forces and national governments including the UK to force the rebels to a capitulation, with all six Prem clubs involved caving in a matter of hours.
The Super League remains in existence despite the withdrawal of nine of the original 12 clubs, even outlining a revised version of the competition including promotion and relegation - rather than the initial closed door entry - earlier this year.
Its submissions to the Court will claim Uefa did not have the right to prevent a rival competition from starting up and that subsequently Europe’s governing body should have no right to impose penalties on potential participants.
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Ceferin, who has previously threatened to ban the remaining rebels from taking part in the Champions League, has dismissed the claims that Uefa is abusing a “monopoly” position.
The Slovenian pointed out: “Nobody is obliged to play in our competitions and no federation is compelled to be a member of Uefa.
“Any federation or club has the right to create its own Uefa or play its own competition.
“But, of course, in our rules, if you play in another competition, you cannot play in ours.”