UEFA Drops Punishments Against Super League Teams

Three top European soccer teams are still holding onto the Super League concept — and a Spanish court just provided them some breathing room.

UEFA, Europe’s governing soccer body, is nullifying its disciplinary actions against the 12 teams that sought to form the breakaway league, including three who have not disavowed the project: Juventus, Barcelona, and Real Madrid.

The disciplinary proceedings against those clubs “have been declared null and void, without any prejudice, as if the proceedings had never been opened,” UEFA wrote. In doing so, UEFA bowed to a ruling in a lawsuit initially brought by all 12 breakaway clubs in April.

• Those three clubs had faced a potential two-year ban from the UEFA Champions League, in which participating teams split $2.34 billion.
• The UEFA is also canceling the penalties it levied against the nine other Super League teams, which included 5% of their European soccer revenues for one year and a combined $17.5 million donation to support youth soccer.
• UEFA said that by nullifying the proceedings, it left the door open to new disciplinary action down the road.

The legal proceedings may have deeper consequences for UEFA: The Spanish court referred the matter to the European Court of Justice to determine whether UEFA can act as a regulator of European soccer clubs while also profiting from the Champions League, Europa League, and other competitions that it oversees.