Earlier this week, Advocate General Rantos delivered an eagerly anticipated preliminary ruling in what, at face value, appears to be the final nail in the coffin for the prospect of the European Super League (ESL) dream to develop any further.

How did we get here? Following the announcement by the ESL to create a new football competition for elite football clubs back in April 2021, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) both refused to recognise the newly created body.

They subsequently proceeded to threaten any player or club who sought to take part in any competition that would be organised by the ESL, resulting in such player or club potentially being fined or worse still expelled from UEFA/FIFA should they have still insisted on forming part of the ESL.

In the view of the company behind the idea of the ESL, the conduct of FIFA and UEFA was regarded as being anti-competitive and incompatible with European Union (EU) competition law and the provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) relating to the fundamental freedoms.

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