European Olympic Committees (EOC) Executive Committee member and Chair of the EOC EU and International Relations Commission José Manuel Araújo took part in panel discussion in Luxembourg on 21 February 2023.

Held as part of the Conference on the Legal and Economic Aspects of the organisation of football in Europe, the key focus of the debate was on the future impact of the European Super League.

Joining Araújo in the discussions were Mehreen Khan, Economics Editor of The Times, Frank Latty from the Nanterre International Law Centre, Vanja Smokvina, Head, Sports Law, Sports Policy and Sports Diplomacy Centre, and Jose Rivas, partner at Bird&Bird law firm in Brussels.

Araújo participated on behalf of the European sports movement and highlighted that all European sports organisations are following the case closely.

He emphasised that he is convinced that the case will further underline the value and importance of the European Sport Model, which should give autonomy and competence to both National and European federations over their calendars and competitions, and the need for it to remain flexible.

The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice confirmed that the European Sports Model sets out legitimate objectives in his ruling in December 2022 despite the organisers of the ESL arguing that it was anti-competitive and Araújo said that he believes that decision will strengthen the model and also allow future modification of Article 165 of the EU Treaty, which focuses on sport.

He concluded that the change could allow improvements to come in the form of creating future programmes from EU to support grass root sports, increasing cooperation between federations and private operators and reinforcing good governance principles in sports organisations, such as the increase of athletes’ participation in the governing bodies of National and European Federations.