Table Of ContentEU ANTITRUST LAW AND
SPORT GOVERNANCE
This is the frst book to examine the signifcance of European Union antitrust
law for the future of sport in Europe.
Drawing on multi-disciplinary perspectives from law, economics, sport man-
agement and politics, and including case studies about the European Superleague
(ESL) and the International Skating Union, the book explores key themes in
contemporary sport, including governance, ownership and control; the Euro-
pean sport model; the regulatory autonomy of sports organisations; and the rela-
tionship between public policy, the law and sport.
This is important reading for any advanced student, researcher, policy-maker
or practitioner with an interest in sport management, sport law, European law or
European politics.
Jacob Kornbeck is a policy ofcer in the European Commission and a former
member of its Sport Unit (2001–2014), where he was involved in the elabora-
tion of the White Paper (COM(2007) 391) and the Communication on Sport
(COM(2011) 12). An external Lecturer at the German Sport University in
Cologne, Germany (sports management), and the University of Lille, France
(sports law), he has published in the felds of sports law and policy, as well as social
policy and social work.
Routledge Research in Sport Business and Management
Good Governance in Sport
Critical Refections
Edited by Arnout Geeraert and Frank van Eekeren
Stakeholder Analysis and Sport Organisations
Edited by Anna-Maria Strittmatter, Josef Fahlén and Barrie Houlihan
Sport and Brexit
Regulatory Challenges and Legacies
Edited by Jacob Kornbeck
Sport Management Education
Global Perspectives and Implications for Practice
Edited by Mike Rayner and Tom Webb
Digital Business Models in Sport
Edited by Mateusz Tomanek, Wojciech Cieśliński and Michał Polasik
Sport Management, Innovation and the COVID-19 Crisis
Edited by Gözde Ersöz and Meltem Ince Yenilmez
Sport in the Iberian Peninsula
Management, Economics and Policy
Edited by Jerónimo García-Fernández, Moisés Grimaldi-Puyana and Gonzalo A. Bravo
EU Antitrust Law and Sport Governance
The Next Frontier?
Edited by Jacob Kornbeck
For more information about this series, please visit https://www.routledge.
com/Routledge-Research-in-Sport-Business-and-Management/book-series/
RRSBM
EU ANTITRUST
LAW AND SPORT
GOVERNANCE
The Next Frontier?
Edited by
Jacob Kornbeck
Designed cover image: jacoblund / Getty images
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Jacob Kornbeck; individual
chapters, the contributors
The right of Jacob Kornbeck to be identifed as the author of the
editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has
been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kornbeck, Jacob, 1968- editor.
Title: EU antitrust law and sport governance : the next frontier? / edited
by Jacob Kornbeck.
Other titles: European Union antitrust law and sport governance
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York City : Routledge, 2023. |
Series: Routledge research in sport business and management | Includes
bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “This is the frst book
to examine the signifcance of European Union antitrust law for the future
of sport in Europe. Drawing on multi-disciplinary perspectives from law,
economics, sport management and politics, and including case studies about
the European Super League (ESL) and the International Skating Union, the
book explores key themes in contemporary sport, including governance,
ownership and control; the European sport model; the regulatory autonomy
of sports organisations; and the relationship between public policy, the law
and sport. This is important reading for any advanced student, researcher,
policy-maker or practitioner with an interest in sport management, sport
law, European law or European politics”— Provided by publisher.
Identifers: LCCN 2022036661 | ISBN 9781032306339 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781032306346 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003305989 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Sports—Law and legislation—European Union
countries. | Antitrust law—European Union countries. | Sports—
Economic aspects—European Union countries.
Classifcation: LCC KJE6063 .E93 2023 | DDC 344.24/099—dc23/
eng/20220924
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022036661
ISBN: 978-1-032-30633-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-30634-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-30598-9 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003305989
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Disclaimer
The editor of this volume, Jacob Kornbeck, is a Policy Ofcer in
the European Commission, but opinions expressed by him are
strictly personal and do not render ofcial positions of the European
Commission or of the European Union. The same applies to the
choice of contributors and the editorial work performed. Opinions
expressed in chapters other than those signed by the editor are those
of the relevant contributors.
References have been harmonised as regards literature but not
with regard to sources of law (legislation and case law), where the
preferences of individual authors have been respected.
The book applies a blended reference style, respecting legal
traditions with those of the social sciences as far as this seemed
feasible. Footnotes have been used rather than APA/Harvard style,
while scholarship is listed in a Bibliography at the end of each
chapter. Legal sources, media sources and all other sources which
cannot be considered scholarship in a narrow sense appear in the
footnotes but not in the Bibliography of a given chapter.
CONTENTS
List of Contributors ix
Grußwort von Bernd Heller xi
Foreword by Bernd Heller xiii
1 Introduction: The slow yet steady rise of EU sports
antitrust law (1982–2022) 1
Jacob Kornbeck
2 A motor of change? EU antitrust law and sports
governance from Meca-Medina to the European Superleague 26
Ben Van Rompuy
3 The International Skating Union case: On a mission to defend
the weaker party? 43
Rusa Agafonova
4 The Superleague concept in European football in the light
of EU competition law 55
Dennis Cukurov
5 The application of antitrust legislation by Swiss courts in
cases involving international sports governing bodies 71
Margareta Baddeley
viii Contents
6 Should organising premier-level European football be a
monopoly? And who should run it? – An economists’
perspective 85
Oliver Budzinski and Arne Feddersen
7 On the economic and legal stakes of independent sport
leagues: The case of football 102
Mickaël Terrien and Jean-Loup Chappelet
8 Antitrust law, sport and the European social model: An
Olympic choice 112
Walter S. Palmer
9 Conclusion: EU antitrust law and the future of the sports
pyramid and the ‘one federation’ principle 133
Jacob Kornbeck
Index 159
CONTRIBUTORS
Rusa Agafonova is a Swiss, Russian and French-educated Sports Lawyer special-
ising in EU competition law, international arbitration and good governance. She
is currently conducting doctoral research at the University of Zurich, Switzer-
land. Her PhD thesis focuses on the exclusivity clauses in the regulations of sports
federations and on the role of EU competition law in tackling anticompetitive
policies of the sports governing bodies.
Margareta Baddeley is an Honorary Professor Emerita of law at the University
of Geneva, Switzerland. Following a legal career in international banking in Ge-
neva, she has been teaching at the Universities of Fribourg and Geneva and has
served as Vice-Rector of the latter. She has coordinated a range of degree pro-
grammes in sports law and is an internationally acknowledged author in the feld.
Oliver Budzinski is Professor of economic theory and Director of the Institute of
Economics at Ilmenau University of Technology, Germany. His main research
areas are competition economics, media economics and sports economics.
Jean-Loup Chappelet is Emeritus Professor of public management at the Swiss
Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP) of the Faculty of law,
criminal sciences and public administration of the University of Lausanne, Swit-
zerland. He used to serve as Director of the MEMOS programme, a master
programme run by 11 universities for Olympic Solidarity (1999–2011), Secretary
General of the International Coubertin Committee (2003–2017) and Member of
the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Education Committee (2013–2016)
and social science research group and continues serving as a Member of the
ASOIF’s (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations) Govern-
ance Taskforce. His research is now focused on the governance of international
sport organisations and events.
