[Round table] Governing European football: What role for the European Union?

Join us for this round table co-organized by GLawNet and the Asser Institute one day after the publication of the Opinion of Advocate General Rantos in the European Super League (ESL) case. We gather academics and stakeholders to reflect on the role played by the EU (primarily through “negative integration”), as well as the role it ought to play (possibly through “positive integration”), in determining the way the beautiful game is governed.

The European Super League (ESL) case
In 2021, the announcement of the creation of a breakaway European Super League (ESL), as well as the drama of its early demise, stunned the world.  Since then, the company behind the ESL and UEFA (as well as FIFA) are locked into a legal battle that will soon come to an end at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Following the preliminary questions raised by a Spanish court, the CJEU will weigh in on whether UEFA and FIFA breached EU competition law with their attempts to thwart the emergence of the ESL. It will not be the first time that the governing bodies of football, both Swiss associations, face scrutiny before the EU courts - many will remember the 1995 Bosman ruling. However, this time around various stakeholders and observers are calling for the EU to not only referee this particular dispute, but to as well start playing a stronger governance role by regulating European football.

Programme
15:00 – 15:05 Opening: Mariolina Eliantonio (Maastricht University)

15:05 – 16:30 - Roundtable: Governing European Football: What role for the European Union?
Moderator: Carlo Colombo (Maastricht University)

•        Antoine Duval (Asser Institute)
•        Benoit Keane (Keane Legal)
•        Alexander Bielefeld (FIFPro)
•        Arnout Geeraert (Utrecht university)
•        MEP (TBC)

16:30 Reception