European breakaway league threat remains - legal expert

UEFA still faces the threat of a LIV Golf-type breakaway league even if the European Court of Justice accepts the opinion of its Advocate General in the Super League case, according to a legal expert.

The AG, Athanasios Rantos, appeared to deal a major blow to the possibility of a closed or even semi-closed league being able to operate within UEFA and FIFA's jurisdiction in his opinion published on Thursday.

He advised the court that in his view, UEFA and FIFA's rules allowing them to block new competitions under their auspices were compatible with EU law and not an abuse of a dominant position, as the Super League's backers had argued.

UEFA and FIFA welcomed the opinion, which is non-binding and only serves as a guide to the judges who will make the final ruling in the case next year.

However, Rantos pointed out that the organisers of the Super League were "free to set up its own independent football competition outside the UEFA and FIFA ecosystem".

Such a move would represent a huge gamble for any clubs prepared to sever ties to the football mainstream, particularly Premier League teams enjoying unprecedented broadcast revenues.

But Peter Nunn, a partner at international law firm Mishcon de Reya specialising in intellectual property, sports and commercial disputes, believes that "nuclear" option will keep the Super League threat alive, especially with the AG arguing it would be unreasonable of UEFA to sanction players belonging to those clubs.

Nunn told the PA news agency: "That makes a true breakaway more feasible, as participating players could still represent their countries. These sorts of breakaways happen in other sports - LIV Golf being the most recent example.

"However, given the overwhelmingly adverse reaction of