Dupont ups financial fair play challenge

Jean Louis-Dupont was the Belgian lawyer who won the Bosman case which transformed football.  More recently, he has been taking on Uefa’s financial fair play (FFP) rules.

The argument he is putting forward, which we think has some credence, is that by limiting investment FFP is violating European competition law and that the exemptions Uefa may call upon do not apply.  A range of plaintiffs have joined the action including football agents and the Manchester City supporters club.

Jean Louis-Dupont was the Belgian lawyer who won the Bosman case which transformed football.  More recently, he has been taking on Uefa’s financial fair play (FFP) rules.

The argument he is putting forward, which we think has some credence, is that by limiting investment FFP is violating European competition law and that the exemptions Uefa may call upon do not apply.  A range of plaintiffs have joined the action including football agents and the Manchester City supporters club.

The case has been proceeding with characteristic slowness and it looks as if it may be some time before it reaches the European Court of Justice (ECJ).  Hence, he has called on the Court of First Instance (a secondary court to the ECJ) for a provisional measure to suspend the further implementation of FFP.

Its effect would be to leave the break even requirements at the present levels of £37m over two years rather than tightening them to £22m over three years which is Uefa’s intention.

Some argue that Dupont cannot win this time because the European institutions, Uefa and the top European clubs that benefit from pulling up the ladder behind them will pull out all the stops to defend FFP.   But legal cases can be unpredictable and most sports lawyers think that there has been a breach of competition law which is a fundamental part of EU jurisprudence.