The promoters of a Super League announced plans for a new breakaway competition on Thursday after the EU’s top court ruled that UEFA had used illegal tactics to stifle a previous project.

The European Court of Justice ruling did not constitute an endorsement of the Super League idea, which still faces furious opposition from many football fans and from Europe’s existing national leagues.

But it marks a serious legal setback for UEFA and for soccer’s world governing body FIFA, finding that their tactic of threatening to ban future Super League clubs and players from taking part in their competitions broke EU law.

And it was seized upon by the promoters of the Super League project, A22 Sports Management, to promote their vision of a new 64-team tournament that would feature promotion and relegation and would be broadcast live for free “on a new streaming platform”.

“The FIFA and UEFA rules making any new interclub football project subject to their prior approval, such as the Super League, and prohibiting clubs and players from playing in those competitions, are unlawful,” the ECJ ruled.

Because UEFA operates as a monopoly in setting the rules, while also organising tournaments of its own such as the Champions League, its criteria for authorising rival competitions should be “transparent, objective, non discriminatory and proportionate”.

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