Real Madrid and Super League promoters are demanding over $4 billion in damages from UEFA, accusing the European football governing body of unlawfully blocking the breakaway league.
The development follows a Spanish court ruling on Wednesday, which dismissed UEFA’s appeal and sided with the Super League’s backers marking another legal win for the long-debated project that once threatened to upend European football.
The Super League, unveiled in 2021 by 12 of Europe’s top clubs including Real Madrid and Barcelona, collapsed within days due to massive backlash from fans, especially in England, and threats of heavy sanctions from both UEFA and FIFA.
However, the legal battle never truly ended. In December 2023, the European Court of Justice (ECJ)ruled that UEFA’s and FIFA’s efforts to block the Super League violated European competition law.
A Spanish judge later upheld that view, declaring that both football bodies had “prevented free competition” and abused their dominant position in European sports governance.
Furthermore, the Madrid court rejected separate appeals from La Liga and the Spanish Football Federation, paving the way for the Super League organisers to seek financial compensation for damages caused by UEFA’s actions.
A22 Sports Management, the company behind the Super League project, said UEFA’s refusal to engage in meaningful reform had forced its hand.
“After years of legal proceedings, UEFA can no longer ignore binding court decisions,” said A22 CEO Bernd Reichart.
“By abusing their monopoly and preventing new initiatives, they have caused substantial damages to numerous clubs, players, and other stakeholders across Europe.”
Moreover, Reichart stressed that A22 was not seeking confrontation but fairness.
“We had no other choice but to take this legal path to defend the rights of the football community,” he added.
UEFA, meanwhile, maintains that its framework remains valid despite the ruling.
In a statement sent to AFP, the organisation said:
“This ruling does not validate the abandoned Super League project announced in 2021, nor does it undermine UEFA’s current authorisation rules, adopted in 2022 and updated in 2024, which remain fully in force.”
UEFA insisted its regulations ensure that all cross-border competitions are judged using “objective, transparent, non-discriminatory, and proportionate criteria.”
Real Madrid, one of the founding Super League clubs, celebrated the outcome, describing it as a “significant legal victory” that confirmed UEFA had “seriously infringed the European Union’s free competition rules.”
The Spanish giants reaffirmed their commitment to reforming football governance.
“The club will continue to work for the good of global football and fans, while claiming substantial damages from UEFA,” the club said
UEFA and FIFA can be very greedy. No denial on that but that idea of the superleague is just bull crap. More competition and no rest for the players. These guys are humans too