QUOTES-Soccer-Reaction to Court ruling UEFA, FIFA breached EU Law over Super League

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Following is reaction to Thursday's European Court of Justice ruling that UEFA and FIFA contravened EU law when they prevented the formation of a Super League.

FLORENTINO PEREZ, REAL MADRID PRESIDENT

"At Real Madrid we welcome with enormous satisfaction the decision adopted by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which is responsible for guaranteeing our principles, values ​​and freedoms.

"In the coming days we will carefully study the scope of this resolution, but I do anticipate two conclusions of great historical significance.

"Firstly, that European club football is not and will never again be a monopoly. And secondly, that from today the clubs will be the masters of their destiny.

"In short, today the Europe of freedoms has triumphed again and today football and its fans have also triumphed."

UEFA

"This ruling does not signify an endorsement or validation of the so-called 'super league'; it rather underscores a historical shortfall within UEFA's pre-authorisation framework, a technical aspect that has already been acknowledged and addressed in June 2022.

"UEFA is confident in the robustness of its new rules, and specifically that they comply with all relevant European laws and regulations."

FIFA

"FIFA will now analyse the decision in coordination with UEFA, the other confederations and the member associations before commenting further.

"In line with its Statutes, FIFA firmly believes in the specific nature of sport, including the pyramid structure – which is underpinned by sporting merit – and the principles of competitive balance and financial solidarity."

GIANNI INFANTINO, FIFA PRESIDENT

"With the greatest respect for the European Court of Justice, today’s judgement does not change anything, really.

"Historically, we have been organising the best competitions in the world and this will also be the case in the future."

DAVID TERRIER, FIFPRO EUROPE PRESIDENT

"We strongly support the protection of employment markets, domestic leagues, sporting merit and a pyramid model.

"We reject any plans to unilaterally undermine the social and cultural fabric of European football and threaten employment opportunities for players – such as the proposal for a European Super League.

"More than ever, collective decisions must prioritise player protection, fair participation and secure employment – not erode them. We will continue this path with UEFA and the social partners."

BERND REICHART, CEO OF A22 SPORTS MANAGEMENT (the company formed to help set up the European Super League)

"We have won the right to compete. The UEFA-monopoly is over. Football is free. Clubs are now free from the threat of sanction and free to determine their own futures."

(on overcoming laws and securing approvals)

"We are not the breakaway league, we are completely compatible with the calendar of domestic leagues. We are connected to domestic leagues.

"We are an open, meritocratic competition who will be nurtured with the access from domestic leagues and whatever it takes to get approval from wherever."

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

"The ruling does not endorse the so-called 'European Super League' and the Premier League continues to reject any such concept."

EUROPEAN CLUB ASSOCIATION (ECA)

"Football is a social contract not a legal contract.

"All the recognised stakeholders... stand more united than ever against the attempts by a few individuals pursuing personal agendas to undermine the very foundations and basic principles of European football."

MANCHESTER UNITED

"We remain fully committed to participation in UEFA competitions, and to positive cooperation with UEFA, the Premier League, and fellow clubs through the ECA on the continued development of the European game."

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

"We remain committed to the values of European football, and we will continue to work with fellow clubs through the ECA and participate in UEFA."

CHELSEA

"We firmly believe that, by working with the Premier League, The FA, other European clubs through our strong relationship with the ECA, and with UEFA and FIFA, we can, together, continue to develop the European game for the benefit of everyone."

PARIS ST GERMAIN

"Paris Saint-Germain rejects wholly and completely any so-called Super League project, which has been the case since day one and will always remain the case," PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said.

"As a proud European institution, PSG supports the principles of the European Sports Model... and working with all recognised stakeholders of European football – most importantly for the fans and players."

UK'S DEPARTMENT FOR DIGITAL, CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

"The attempt to create a breakaway competition was a defining moment in English football and was universally condemned by fans, clubs and the Government.

"We took decisive action at the time by triggering the fan-led review of football governance, which called for the creation of a new independent regulator for English football.

"We will shortly be bringing forward legislation that makes this a reality, and will stop clubs from joining any similar breakaway competitions in the future."

BARCELONA

"As one of the clubs driving the Super League project, Barcelona feels that the sentence paves the way for a new elite level football competition in Europe by opposing the monopoly over the football world and wishes to initiate new discussions as to the path that European competitions should take in the future."

JAVIER TEBAS, SPANISH LALIGA PRESIDENT

"They are already (celebrating) as I warned they would. They have always been able to organise competitions outside the UEFA and FIFA environment, and that cannot be prohibited, the issue is their conditions to be within the organization of UEFA and FIFA.

"The CJEU says that FIFA and UEFA's competition admission rules are transparent, but not that they should admit the Super League. On the contrary, it points out that the criteria for the admission of competitions must be transparent, objective and non-discriminatory.

"Principles that are precisely incompatible with the Super League."

ENGLISH FOOTBALL SUPPORTERS' ASSOCIATION

"There is no place for an ill-conceived breakaway super league," FSA chief executive Kevin Miles said.

"Supporters, players and clubs have already made clear they don't want a stitched-up competition - we all want to see the trigger pulled on the walking dead monstrosity that is the European Zombie League.

"While the corpse might continue to twitch in the European courts, no English side will be joining. The incoming independent regulator will block any club from competing in domestic competition if they join a breakaway super league."

CONRAD WIACEK, HEAD OF SPORT ANALYSIS AT GLOBALDATA

"The ECJ's ruling that UEFA and FIFA have restricted competition by effectively banning the ESL will embolden the likes of Florentino Perez and Joan Laporta to push on with the Super League plan.

"Unwilling to sacrifice their own dominant market positions domestically to create a more competitive product, which in turn would drive higher media rights fees, the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona will see the ECJ ruling as an opportunity to enrich themselves and further imbalance the soccer ecosystem and create a new commercial reality for the sport."

ITALIAN SERIE A

"Lega Serie A reiterates the centrality of the national Championship and its fans and hopes that the subsequent developments will see a full involvement of the Leagues and Clubs." (Complied by Pearl Josephine Nazare, Shifa Jahan, Rohith Nair in Bengaluru and Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk; Editing by Ed Osmond)