The Limits of Sporting Autonomy after the Super League Judgement: Has the CJEU redefined UEFA’s regulatory powers?

This article analyses the limits of sporting autonomy after the CJEU’s Super League judgment, focusing on whether the decision redefined UEFA’s and FIFA’s regulatory powers under EU law. It explains the traditional concept of sporting autonomy through global sports law and lex sportiva, before examining earlier EU law limits established in Bosman and Meca-Medina. The article then assesses the Super League dispute, including UEFA and FIFA’s prior authorisation system, threatened sanctions and control over commercial rights.

Its central conclusion is that the CJEU did not abolish sporting autonomy or the European sports model, but transformed it into a form of supervised autonomy: UEFA and FIFA may remain legitimate regulators of football, but their discretion must now operate within transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate legal frameworks subject to EU law scrutiny.