UEFA has filed a legal motion to REMOVE a judge who ruled against the football body and supported Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid’s right to form a European Super League
- Judge Manuel Ruiz de Lara declared UEFA must not threaten clubs wanting to participate in the Super League or do anything that might deter them
- UEFA ignored the April 20 ruling and pressed ahead with disciplinary action
- Furious judge ordered all sanctions against the 12 ESL plotters to be cancelled
- European football body finally complied with that demand last night
- But it has now filed a legal motion for ‘the recusal of the presiding judge’
UEFA is seeking to remove a judge who has presided over legal action brought against it by the European Super League rebels, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus.
In an extraordinary move, the European football governing body has claimed there have been ‘irregularities’ in how the case has been handled.
And the body now wants the judge to ‘stand aside’. If successful, the move could eventually lead to disciplinary action restarting against the rebel clubs after it was abandoned on Monday night.
Real Madrid won the Champions League in 2018 but UEFA’s action could have led to a ban
‘UEFA has filed a motion for the recusal of the judge presiding over the current proceedings as it believes there are significant irregularities in these proceedings,’ European football’s governing body said in a statement.
‘In line with Spanish law – and in the fundamental interests of justice – UEFA fully expects the judge in question to immediately stand aside pending the full and proper consideration of this motion.’
UEFA has also filed an appeal with the higher court of appeal in Madrid.
The three rebel clubs initially went to court in April following the announcement – and collapse – of the Super League project.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin initially went to war with the 12 founding members
In a court in Madrid, they asserted they had a right to form a breakaway competition, after UEFA had threatened clubs participating in any Super League with removal from existing competitions.
In the first ruling on April 20, Judge Manuel Ruiz de Lara declared UEFA must not threaten clubs wanting to participate in the Super League or do anything that might deter them from joining.
However, UEFA ignored this judgement and pressed ahead with disciplinary action against all 12 rebel clubs, which also included, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter and Atletico Madrid.
Infuriated, the judge responded in July and ordered all financial and legal sanctions brought against the 12 European Super League plotters, including the English clubs, to be cancelled with immediate effect.
UEFA, based in Nyon, Switzerland, has now hit back. It said it will ‘continue to take all necessary steps, in strict accordance with national and EU law, in order to defend its interests and – most importantly – those of its members and all football stakeholders.’
UEFA is hoping a ruling by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg could back its attempts to eventually ban Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus from the Champions League.
