UEFA could be punished over ESL ruling – judge

A Madrid judge has demanded that UEFA comply with an injunction ordering the suspension of disciplinary proceedings against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus over the Super League project, or face punishment.

The Super League filed a claim with a commercial court in Madrid — where the company is registered — when it launched in April, arguing that UEFA should be prevented from taking any action against the clubs involved under European free trade laws.

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The judge, Manuel Ruiz de Lara, granted an initial injunction finding that Super League members should be protected until the European Court of Justice rules on the case.

Nonetheless, UEFA announced in May that the three of the original 12 member clubs that had not disowned the project — Madrid, Barca and Juve — would face charges.

Those proceedings were paused in June when the Madrid decision was formally passed onto European football’s governing body by the Swiss Ministry of Justice.

On Monday, judge Ruiz de Lara issued a ruling asking UEFA to demonstrate, within five days, that it “had given effect to the provisionary injunction issued on April 20” which called on them to take no further action, or “the relevant financial fines” could be imposed.

The judge pointed to recent public comments from UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin — as well as LaLiga president Javier Tebas, a frequent public critic of the Super League — as suggesting that “the disciplinary proceedings against the founding clubs had not been halted.”

Ruiz de Lara said that constituted “a flagrant breach of the April 20 injunction.”

Madrid president Florentino Perez — the public face of the project — has continued to insist that “the Super League continues” and is “on standby” despite the departure of nine of the founding clubs, including all six Premier League teams.

When the Super League launched, proposing a 20-team midweek league with 15 permanent members, Perez argued the reforms were necessary “to prevent football from dying,” calling the existing Champions League format “obsolete.”