Further legal challenge to FFP by Striani and Dupont
Following the initial legal challenge to FFP in May by Daniel Striani via sports lawyer Dupont, a second legal challenge has been raised. I have attached the Press Release in full with attachments:
Striani opens second front on legal challenge to UEFA’s break-even rule
20 June 2013 - Belgian player agent Daniel Striani is continuing his challenge of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rule today by launching a legal action in the Court of First Instance in Brussels. The process will ask the Court to judge on alleged infringements of both EU competition law and the right to free movement (of workers, services and capital).
This latest legal challenge follows a complaint Striani lodged with the European Commission in May against UEFA’s Financial Fair Play which argued that the "Break-even rule" (the obligation for financial equilibrium) was in contravention to fundamental principles of EU competition law. That process is ongoing and the Commission is expected to rule in 2014.
Striani’s legal team is led by Jean-Louis Dupont, the Belgian sports competition lawyer, who was part of the legal team that secured the Bosman ruling on player contracts in 1995. He also led the Meca-Medina case and, for G-14, the Charleroi case.
Since UEFA’s rule affects all football clubs, players and staff within the European Union, Striani is arguing that the Court of First Instance of Brussels seeks from the European Union Court of Justice a preliminary ruling on its compatibility with EU law (specifically free movement of workers, services, capital, and free competition).
Striani’s case argues that the UEFA rule is illegal under EU law because it is a disproportionate response and that there are more effective alternatives such as allowing over-spending if fully guaranteed; establish a "luxury tax"; or change the model of revenue sharing with regards to the UEFA club competitions.
This latest legal process is supported by a growing body of economic and legal opinion which argues that the UEFA rule is ineffective, illegal and disproportionate given alternative measures available.
ENDS
Notes to editor:
1. Daniel Striani lodged his complaint about UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations with the European Commission on 6 May 2013.
2. For further economic and legal analysis supporting Striani’s case please go to:
Football’s Anti-Competitive Streak, Wall St Journal Europe, 25 March 2013 –
http://online.wsj.com/article/
The Problem with Salary Caps Under EU Law: The Case Against Financial Fair Play, Texas Review of Entertainment & Sports Law, 15 November 2010, by Johan Lindholm
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/
Financial Fair Play, alternative instruments and competitive balance, 27 February 2013, by Jeroen Schokkaert.
http://footballperspectives.
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