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CAS 2016/A/4492, Galatasaray v. UEFA, Award of 3 October 2016

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Yearbook of International Sports Arbitration 2016

Part of the book series: Yearbook of International Sports Arbitration ((YISA))

Abstract

In 2012, UEFA adopted the Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations (CL&FFP Regulations) and introduced what are now commonly known as the financial fair play requirements. In May 2014, the Turkish football giants Galatasaray entered into a settlement agreement with the Chief Investigator of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) in charge of monitoring the FFP Regulations. Yet, in March 2016 the CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber found Galatasaray in breach of the settlement agreement and handed out a two-year period of ineligibility for upcoming UEFA club competitions. The Turkish club decided to appeal the decision to the CAS, which released its award on 3 October 2016. This chapter is a commentary of the CAS award. In particular, it reviews the CAS Panel’s reasoning regarding the compatibility of the CL&FFP Regulations with EU law.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See for a first argument in that direction Lindholm 2010.

  2. 2.

    See B. Van Rompuy, The Brussels Court judgment on Financial Fair Play: a futile attempt to pull off a Bosman, 6 July 2015. http://www.asser.nl/SportsLaw/Blog/post/the-brussels-court-judgment-on-financial-fair-play-a-futile-attempt-to-pull-off-a-bosman-by-ben-van-rompuy. Accessed 5 September 2017. On the Striani saga in front of the EU Commission, see Bastianon 2015.

  3. 3.

    I reviewed the application of EU law at the CAS in Duval 2015.

  4. 4.

    On this case, see Duval 2016.

  5. 5.

    CAS 2016/A/4492, Galatasaray v. UEFA, Award of 3 October 2016, para 38

  6. 6.

    Ibid., para 39.

  7. 7.

    Ibid.

  8. 8.

    Ibid., para 41.

  9. 9.

    Ibid., para 43.

  10. 10.

    CAS 98/200, AEK Athens and SK Slavia Prague/ Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), Award of 20 August 1999.

  11. 11.

    CAS 2016/A/4492, Galatasaray v. UEFA, Award of 3 October 2016, para 44.

  12. 12.

    TAS 2016/A/4490, RFC Seraing v. FIFA, Award of 9 March 2017. On the award, see A. Duval, RFC Seraing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport: How FIFA’s TPO ban Survived (Again) EU Law Scrutiny, 26 April 2017. http://www.asser.nl/SportsLaw/Blog/post/rfc-seraing-at-the-court-of-arbitration-for-sport-how-fifa-s-tpo-ban-survived-again-eu-law-scrutiny. Accessed 5 September 2017.

  13. 13.

    CAS 98/200, AEK Athens and SK Slavia Prague/ Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), Award of 20 August 1999.

  14. 14.

    See the EU Commission Decision in case COMP/37 806: ENIC/ UEFA. http://ec.europa.eu/competition/antitrust/cases/dec_docs/37806/37806_7_3.pdf. Accessed 5 September 2017.

  15. 15.

    CAS 2016/A/4492, Galatasaray v. UEFA, Award of 3 October 2016, paras 58-59.

  16. 16.

    Ibid., para 60.

  17. 17.

    UEFA’s key legal advisers were extremely vocal in pushing back against the application of EU competition law to sports regulations after the Meca-Medina ruling of the European Court of Justice in 2006. See Infantino 2006 and Zylberstein 2007.

  18. 18.

    CAS 2016/A/4492, Galatasaray v. UEFA, Award of 3 October 2016, para 61.

  19. 19.

    Ibid.

  20. 20.

    Ibid., para 63.

  21. 21.

    Ibid.

  22. 22.

    Ibid., para 67.

  23. 23.

    Ibid.

  24. 24.

    Ibid.

  25. 25.

    Ibid.

  26. 26.

    Ibid., para 68.

  27. 27.

    Ibid., para 69.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., para 70.

  29. 29.

    Ibid., para 71.

  30. 30.

    Ibid.

  31. 31.

    Ibid., para 72.

  32. 32.

    Ibid., para 74.

  33. 33.

    Ibid.

  34. 34.

    Ibid., para 75.

  35. 35.

    Ibid., para 76.

  36. 36.

    Ibid.

  37. 37.

    Ibid.

  38. 38.

    Ibid.

  39. 39.

    Ibid.

  40. 40.

    Ibid.

  41. 41.

    Ibid.

  42. 42.

    CJEU, C-309/99, Wouters and others v. Algemene Raad van de Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten.

  43. 43.

    CAS 2016/A/4492, Galatasaray v. UEFA, Award of 3 October 2016, para 77.

  44. 44.

    Ibid., para 78.

  45. 45.

    Ibid., para 79.

  46. 46.

    Ibid.

  47. 47.

    Ibid.

  48. 48.

    Ibid.

  49. 49.

    Ibid.

  50. 50.

    Ibid., para 83.

  51. 51.

    Ibid., paras 88–90.

  52. 52.

    For the lawyers, see Lindholm 2010; Petit 2014; Palomino 2015; Kaplan 2015; Serby 2016. For the economist see Vöpel 2013; D’Andrea and Masciandaro 2016.

  53. 53.

    See Weatherill 2017, pp. 270-279.

  54. 54.

    EU Commission, Joint Statement by Vice-President Joaquin Almunia and President Michel Platini, 21 March 2012. http://ec.europa.eu/competition/sectors/sports/joint_statement_en.pdf. Accessed 5 September 2017. See also Weatherill 2017, p. 278.

  55. 55.

    Oskar van Maren, UEFA’s Financial Fair Play Regulations and the Rise of Football’s 1%, 10 February 2017. http://www.asser.nl/SportsLaw/Blog/post/uefa-s-financial-fair-play-regulations-and-the-rise-of-football-s-1. Accessed 5 September 2017.

  56. 56.

    Pointing out the hypocrisy of UEFA, imposing on the one hand FFP and on the other hand a highly unequal redistribution of UEFA competitions revenue, see Menary 2016.

  57. 57.

    Kaplan 2015, pp. 850−856, and Serby 2016, pp. 45–46.

  58. 58.

    On the comparison with the French DNCG, see Dermit-Richard et al. 2017.

  59. 59.

    See Lindholm 2010 and Weatherill 2017.

  60. 60.

    Under the pressure of the EU Commission, as highlighted by Geeraert and Drieskens 2017, p. 86.

  61. 61.

    CAS 2016/A/4492, Galatasaray v. UEFA, Award of 3 October 2016, para 85.

  62. 62.

    Ibid., para 86.

  63. 63.

    Ibid.

  64. 64.

    Ibid.

  65. 65.

    Ibid., para 103.

  66. 66.

    Ibid.

  67. 67.

    Ibid., para 107.

  68. 68.

    Ibid., para 108.

  69. 69.

    Ibid., para 110.

  70. 70.

    Ibid.

  71. 71.

    Ibid., para 112.

  72. 72.

    Ibid., para 114.

  73. 73.

    Ibid., para 115.

  74. 74.

    A welcome trend in light of its previous practice, see Duval 2015.

  75. 75.

    See Duval and Van Rompuy 2016 and Geeraert 2016.

  76. 76.

    But see Axtmann 2015.

  77. 77.

    Weatherill 2017.

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  1. T.M.C. Asser Institute, R.J. Schimmelpennincklaan 20-22, 2517 JN, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Antoine Duval

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  1. ASSER International Sports Law Centre, T.M.C. Asser Instituut, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Antoine Duval

  2. Faculté de droit, Université de Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Antonio Rigozzi

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Duval, A. (2017). CAS 2016/A/4492, Galatasaray v. UEFA, Award of 3 October 2016. In: Duval, A., Rigozzi, A. (eds) Yearbook of International Sports Arbitration 2016. Yearbook of International Sports Arbitration. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/15757_2017_20

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