It could be before and after in 160 years of organized football. Next Thursday, the 21st, at 9:30 Luxembourg time, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will deliver a ruling that could change the history of this sport. They will have to decide whether UEFA has a monopoly on the organization of football tournaments. Antimonopoly laws are one of the fundamental principles of the political community, which consists of 27 countries of the Old Continent. If the CJEU rules that UEFA can continue to organize its tournaments, but not exclusively, the entire organization of this sport in Europe will change, and hence FIFA itself and other confederations in the rest of the planet. He would even withdraw other sports. In short, it would be an earthquake with absolutely unpredictable consequences.

If this happens – and the European media assures that it will – the company A22 Sports Management will immediately announce the creation of the European Super League, a new tournament that will distribute multimillion-dollar prizes, much larger than those of UEFA. Clubs from these 27 countries will be free to leave the Champions League and play in the Super League without being banned or sanctioned by UEFA or their national associations. A22 Sports has confirmed that there are already 60 approved teams, led by two transatlantic teams, Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​two of which have supported the project and will receive €1,000 million each before the start of play. For Barça, whose debt is monstrous, it would be an economic salvation. The Super League tends to concentrate the most powerful clubs and the confederations know that if they punish their most important institutions, for example Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid, their league would be reduced to nothing. The same would happen with Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, etc.

According to what is predicted, the Super League would already have OK, among others, PSV and Feyenoord (Netherlands), Porto, Benfica and Sporting (Portugal), Red Star (Serbia), Anderlecht (Belgium)… They for starters , then others would be added. The tournament would, in principle, be invitational.

The verdict will not read “UEFA won” or “Superliga won”. They will refer to the fact that there should be no monopolies in the EU. Aleksander Čeferin, the president of UEFA, and his ally Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the head of Paris Saint Germain and ECA (European Club Association), are already collecting signatures so that as many clubs as possible commit to staying in their competition, but in Europe. most institutions are companies and they are looking for money. Since they have freedom of choice, they will choose the tournament that brings them the most profit.

There is an important additional element: a club that did not qualify for the Champions League or Europa League in its own league could play in the Super League and not lose international competition. The variables that the judgment of the Luxembourg court would set free are unimaginable. Even other companies could create new competitions because no one would have an organizational monopoly. The Super League, which is financed by big banks with excess liquidity, would start with 15,000 million euros of money to be distributed. Spectators would decide which tournament to watch, whether the traditional UEFA Champions League or the Super League, which would bring together the most renowned: Madrid, Barça, Bayern Munich, Milan, Inter, Juventus…

There are dozens of questions that will be asked after the verdict: Which titles would be worth more…? What will the footballers represented by FIFpro… decide? What position will the powerful English teams take, now that their country is not a member of the European Union…? Will the Super League respect the FIFA dates so as not to interfere with local or national team tournaments…? Because the Superliga would offer juicy prizes to the players and they might decide to stay in that tournament and not play for their national teams. Would there be any other company, or A22 Sports itself, who would like to come to South America and organize a parallel Libertadores, with many more millions than those provided by Conmebol…?

And something transcendental: if UEFA loses the exclusivity of tournament management, the national associations included in the EU would also lose it.

Bernd Reichart, German, 49 years old, with extensive experience in media and television, president of A22 Sports Management, explained in a statement: “There is still a lot of confusion, but what is really happening is that UEFA has an absolute monopoly over the football board and court will decide whether that monopoly may continue or must fall.” He added that “all domestic leagues are run and managed by participating clubs. Only at the European level do clubs have the right to vote. We firmly believe in the court and the laws of the European Union that govern it.” Very confident, he concluded: “after we have read and accepted the resolution and confirmed that UEFA’s monopoly is illegal, we will finally be able to publicly announce the results of more than a year of talks with the shareholders of various clubs. “We will propose an open format European competition for over sixty teams and we will ensure that everyone is treated equally and fairly.”

If the antitrust ruling comes to light, the pyramid organization in the organization of world football would fall. A22 Sports is focused – for now – on club football only, FIFA, UEFA and other confederations would continue to manage activities at national team level, but would be weakened. The blow would be catastrophic. Gianni Infantino, the all-powerful president of the parent company in Zurich, would shake the floor. The Slovenian Aleksander Ceferín, a respected lawyer in his homeland, also the son and brother of a lawyer, has so far shown granite firmness in his management, totally tough, but Reichart and the conglomerate of investors he represents shook him: they targeted a strategic point, the anti-monopoly principle of the European Union. The monetary power of FIFA and UEFA is threatened by the same resource: more money.

The Luxembourg court that will rule on Thursday is the same one that sanctioned the Bosman Law in 1995, which forever changed the relationship between clubs and footballers. It declared post-contract transfer fees and foreigner quotas illegal when applied to EU citizens, recognizing that such rules de facto prevent players from freely contracting and contradict EU labor and commercial regulations. The Liege club from Belgium had a slavish behavior with Jean-Marc Bosman. Due to a short circuit with the leaders, they reduced his salary by 60%; Bosman waited for his relationship with the club to end and found another team, Dunkirk, from the second French league. Lieja stood up: he either renewed with them or demanded $800,000 in damages if he left. Bosman went to court and received a historic verdict: he was considered free. It then referred to the Treaty of Rome from 1957, which established the free movement of European workers within the countries of the Union.

Nothing has been defined yet, however, the football authorities are against the wall. On Thursday, he could be dealt a fatal blow. (OR)