'Financial Fair Play' or 'Oligopoleague' of Football Clubs?: A Preliminary Review Under European Union Competition

Abstract

This short paper offers a first analysis of the UEFA's "break even requirement" under the EU competition rules. It shows that there are good reasons to believe that the UEFA Financial Fair Play regulation violates Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, in particular because it limits investments in the sense of Article 101(1) b) TFEU and in turn risks ossifying the market structure to the benefit of a tight oligopoly of football clubs.

Keywords: financial fair play; competition law; cartel; article 101; investment; self regulation

JEL Classification: K21; L4; L44