UEFA has complied on the horn with the order of the Spanish judge Ruiz de Lara to annul all sanctions against the founders of the Superliga. It does so within the limit of the legal term granted by the Magistrate of Court 17 of Madrid, which was preparing the inspection of Ceferin for disobedience. To the UEFA statement the publication on its official website will follow of compliance with the court order and the annulment of any punishment or retaliation against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus. In addition, UEFA will have to cancel the fines it imposed on the rest of the clubs that started the project: Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Inter, Milan and Atlético de Madrid.
This Tuesday expired the period of five days that the titular magistrate of Court 17 of Madrid imposed on the president of UEFA to comply with what was ordered in his car of last April 20. From that moment, at the request of the Spanish magistrate, the Prosecutor’s Office would investigate him for contempt. Hence, it has rectified and has annulled all sanctions both to the clubs that are still in the project, Real Madrid, Barça and Juventus, as well as to the rest that started it and then aborted it. The administrative act will be followed by the publicity required by the judge to repair the rights of those affected.
On June 9, UEFA informed Real Madrid, Barça and Juventus that it was “suspending the disciplinary proceedings that began for their participation in the Super League. Ceferin, 48 hours later, specified that this decision was” provisional. “The judge waited until last week to conclude that “the breach of said judicial resolution (the order of April 20) shows that the disciplinary procedure has not waned and that the announced sanctioning measures could be carried out as soon as the suspension is lifted.” In other words, the judge demands the total annulment of all sanctioning proceedings and not just their suspension. This is how UEFA has finally accepted, which is going to rectify and annul the proceedings against the Superliga as if they had never existed.
Manuel Ruiz de Lara pointed to UEFA for devising “a rebellious strategy aimed at frustrating compliance with judicial decisions”, and warned its president, Aleksander Ceferin, for maintaining “an impeding will aimed at consolidating anti-competitive practices.” The Spanish magistrate warned in the same order that, if he did not attend to reasons, would initiate the process to impute Ceferin for contempt, before which finally UEFA, on the limit and with the judge ready to initiate the process for rebellion, has responded to the judicial requirement and has annulled the open process against the clubs that promote the Superliga .
On the other hand, Ruiz de Lara has summoned the litigants next Friday in his Court, UEFA and its associated Leagues and Federations on the one hand, and the Super League and its partners on the other, for a turn of allegations that, in all case, they would allow him to continue leading the process even if he was assigned to another judicial headquarters. Meanwhile, the European Curia continues to collect information among the 27 members of the European Union before the Luxembourg Court issues its judgment on the preliminary ruling question raised by the Spanish magistrate and which summarizes in determining whether UEFA enjoys a monopoly in the organization of European football because the abuse of a dominant position in any area and in any EU territory is expressly prohibited by Community Laws.
