The EU Court of Justice AG Rantos argues that a football federation’s exclusion of a rival football competition is not a restriction by object and is necessary to protect the European Sport Model (ESLC / UEFA / FIFA)

Abstract The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) was requested to consider whether the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), which (according to the Court) has “conferred on itself the exclusive power to organize pan-European competitions” between football clubs, could exclude clubs wishing to participate in a rival competition without infringing competition rules, in particular in the absence of a proper authorization procedure to assess such potential participations. The questions were raised in the context of a recent litigation (C-333/21) involving the attempt to organize a rival competition by the European Sport League Corporation (ESLC). This paper considers the opinion put forward by Advocate General (AG) Rantos on the questions before the Court, focusing on