Quo vadis, sports federations? The premonition of change as a consequence of competition law judgments

Abstract The article aims to analyse the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the SuperLeague and International Skating Union cases through the lens of sports federations, and looks at whether compliance efforts have started to emerge since then. After the brief sketch of the cases, it sheds light on those aspects of the judgments that have not been scrutinized so far by a critical attitude. As regards the assessment of Article 165 TFEU and its impact on competition rules, the Court explains its normative decision with arguments such as the place of provisions in the Treaty and the way of competence-sharing between the EU and Member States, which do not substantiate its finding on the relationship between competition law and the sports sector. It is also of utmost importance that the inclusion of Article 106 TFEU into the analysis of Article 102 TFEU sends a soft signal to sports governing bodies to have their behaviour corrected in light of competition rules before a more drastic intervention. Nevertheless, it has been found that sports governing bodies have slowly started to revise their statutes to be in accordance with the judgments delivered in December 2023.