Politics will play the biggest role in the decision of the European court
Columbia University professor, Petros C. Mavroidis, in his exclusive interview with Manos Staramopoulos, talks about various items
Columbia University professor, Petros C. Mavroidis, in his exclusive interview with Manos Staramopoulos, talks about the dispute submitted to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Luxembourg, between UEFA and the European Super League, the Qatar World Cup, Messi, Cruyff and the national team of Greece.
DF: Professor, in December this year and more specifically before the 18th of December, the Attorney General of the CJEU, Athanasios Rantos, is expected to submit to the CJEU his opinion regarding the Super League chalenge against UEFA’s regulation of football. How do you assess this very serious issue that will probably decide the future of World football?
R/: "It depends on the tactics that the Court will follow. If it decides to avoid the hot potato (there are always some good arguments for this, such as ("why make out of the judge a lawmaker? Why does the legislature refuse to assume its responsibilities and legislate since it is quite clear by now that it is not wise to entrust UEFA/FIFA with the regulation of football ") then we shouldn't have to wait for much longer. If the court decides to go a step further then it will have to apply its decisions in Interskate Union and MOTOE and curtail UEFA's regulatory powers. If it does that, it will be effectively denying the monopoly to organize panEuropean football competitions. If it wants to go even further, then it could explain that it is inconsistent with EU law that UEFA acts as the regulator of football when it has a commercial interest in it."
2. Recently the new Executive Director of the companies that represent the European Super League, Bernd Reichart, indicated that he will soon go to the UEFA headquarters in Nyon to talk about this controversial issue. Do you think this move indicates something, about the decision, or is it a sensational move?
R/: “Hard to answer that. I think at this stage it is wiser to wait for the court's decision".
3. We all know that the Belgian lawyer, Louis Dupont representing the Super League side, has stated that this decision is even more crucial than the Bosman jurisprudence. In fact, he pointed out that it is 100 times more important. What is your opinion?.
R/: "If the court chooses between the second or the third alternative I cited above, then this case is very serious indeed, for the Court, if it does that, it will oblige UEFA to allow other bodies to organize football competitions in Europe as long as certain criteria (e.g., safety, security etc.) have been met. This means that UEFA will lose not only its regulatory monopoly in this respect, but also a substantial source of its income."
4. Recently reading Janike Gerrards, on Human Rights I was struck by references to article 53 of the European Union Treaty which speaks of subsidiarity, more favorable treatment, priority, conflicts of rights, · balancing, interpretation of reinforcement. I wonder are we about to sense an earthquake in world football?
R/: “The CJEU doesn't have to go that far. As I have already mentioned, the court can avoid the question by saying that since the EU has only subsidiary competence in sports matters (Article 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU) it would be more appropriate to put this question before the legislators of the EU member states. But as we know quite well by now, the national legislature prefers to discuss matters at the UEFA-level, without attempting to reach EU-wide consensus before. Member states’ legislators ignore thus the multiple critiques that have been persuasively leveled against the way that UEFA and FIFA legislate and implement their legislation. They close their eyes to the fact that there is total absence of checks and balances within these two bodies, the quintessence of good governance indeed. It's one problem less of course for politicians, who have refused for years to take responsibility on this issue.
5. Is UEFA acting as a monopoly?
R/: "Whether or not UEFA is a non-monopoly depends on whether football is a separate market from the sports market or even show business. But as I said we don't need to go there because the Interskate and MOTOE decisions suffice by and large for the court to condemn UEFA's policies if it wants to do that.
6. You personally, with your vast experience, how do you think this case will be decided and by when will the CJEU, which is not obliged to take into account Mr. Rantos 's suggestion, make a final decision..
R/: "It's very difficult for me to comment on that. I know some but not all of the judges. And ultimately it will be a matter of both legal and political reflection. Does the court want to step in where the political class has refused to take even one meaningful step, or not? I think this is the crucial question.."
Infantino didn't change anything
7. On the 20th of the month, the biggest football event on the planet, the World Cup, begins in Qatar. How do you see the top football festival developing, which for the first time will actually be held in winter for Europe?.
"I do not know what to say. Even Blatter now says it was a mistake to entrust Qatar with the organization of the World Cup. There is nothing to justify this decision which is unfortunately inextricably linked to a lot of suspicions of sneaky manipulations, political benefits, and abuse of power. It's not the first time and I'm afraid it won't be the last either that we experience similar suspicions. FIFA's award system is flat out unacceptable. And President Infantino hasn't changed anything in the previous system in this respect."
8. Do you think that this World Cup, which will probably be Messi's last, will give him more impetus to try harder to achieve with the Argentine national team what he failed to achieve in 2016, in Brazil, namely to win the big prize?.
R/: "He has a better team next to him now than in previous years. But there are quite a few good teams and in a knockout match a lot can happen..”
9. Which teams do you consider as favorites if we accept that one will be the Argentine national team?
R/: "France, Brazil are equally good teams and something tells me that maybe England will exceed expectations this time".
DF: From February onwards we will have UEFA Champions League again. With the new conditions that are taking shape this year, due to the change of the competition schedule, due to the World Cup, can we have surprises in the new year in the top product of UEFA?.
R/: "Quite likely although no one can predict the future for which we always have insufficient information. Injuries, heavy schedule will count for sure"
DF: And our last question. Do you think that the Greek national team will be able, after a period of bad results that brought them out of the top competitions, to recover in 2023 and beyond?
R/: "I hope so from the bottom of my heart. I hope the coach dares to make changes. He seems to have the character to do it, call on young guys and build a team that will be made up of talented but primarily team players. Football is very much a team sport. Johan Cruyff, who for me was the best footballer ever, was at the top because he had good footballers by his side and played with and for them. They all played for the team. Coach Poyet needs to do the same with the Greek national team as well."
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