Spanish court orders UEFA to drop sanctions against Super League clubs

Madrid, Jul 30 (EFE).- Real Madrid CF, FC Barcelona and Juventus hailed Friday’s decision by a Spanish court ordering UEFA to rescind all sanctions imposed on the 12 founding members of the European Super League.

And though the other nine founders abandoned the venture within days of the announcement of its creation in April, the three clubs vowed to “keep developing the Super League project in a constructive and cooperative manner.”

The ruling by the court in Madrid “enforces, with immediate effect, UEFA’s obligation to unwind the actions taken against all European Super League founding clubs, including terminating the disciplinary proceedings against the undersigning three clubs,” Barça, Juve and the Blancos said in a joint statement.

The Spanish tribunal rejected the appeal from UEFA of the same court’s decision earlier this month requiring European soccer’s governing body to desist from punishing the Super League clubs.

“UEFA has established itself as the sole regulator, exclusive operator, and unique owner of rights of European football competitions. This monopolistic position, in conflict of interest, is damaging football and its competitive balance,” the Super League trio said.

On April 18, a dozen of Europe’s biggest clubs presented their plan for a European Super League that would have 15 permanent members and five rotating slots to be filled through qualifiers.

Several other top European sides, including Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich, rejected invitations to join.

The announcement spurred an angry backlash from fans, pundits and even politicians as well as public expressions of dissent from coaches and players with some of the clubs that signed up for the new league.

Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur abandoned the initiative within a span of a few hours on April 20. Three other participants, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan, quickly followed suit.

The nine teams that walked away from the Super League reached a “reintegration” agreement with UEFA that entailed making substantial payments.

While the English and Italian sides also had to write checks to the Premier League and Serie A, respectively.

The Spanish court ruling appears to require UEFA and the national leagues to refund those payments. EFE ams/dr