Bosman to Brexit and Beyond" -- How a European Court's decision altered football 25 years ago and its legacy going forward
Jean Marc-Bosman and his case before the European Court of Justice in 1995 ushered in a new era of labor freedom for athletes throughout the whole of Europe. This presentation will feature four key elements. I will first review the structure of European soccer, how transfer fees work between clubs, along with the original restraints on trade and lack of freedom footballers had during the first hundred-plus years of soccer. Specifically, I will focus on three distinct English cases that discussed the original restraint-of-trade and how English courts determined its lawfulness. I will then break down the Bosman decision in detail, the arguments brought before the court, the court's final ruling and what it meant for all European-based athletes going forward. Afterwards, I will look at several case examples of how clubs within Europe responded to the Bosman ruling and either took advantage of the landscape or moved in a different direction with player freedom. Finally, I will look at the effects on player movement a quarter century on and look head at the future of European soccer.
Bibliography of presentation:
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- JOSHUA ROBINSON AND JONATHAN CLEGG, THE CLUB: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports (2019).
- KATATRINA PIJETLOVIC, EU SPORTS LAW AND BREAKAWAY LEAGUES IN FOOTBALL (David McArdle et al. eds, 2015).
- KIERAN MAGUIRE, THE PRICE OF FOOTBALL (2ND Ed. 2021)
- SIMON KUPER AND STEFAN SZYMANSKI, SOCCERNOMICS: Why England loses, Why Germany, Spain and France Win, and Why One Day Japan, Iraq and the United States Will Become Kings of the World’s Most Popular Sport (2018 World Cup Ed., 2018).
- Case C-415/93, Union Royale Belge Societes de Football Association v. Bosman, 1995 E.C.R. I-4921, 1 C.M.L.R. 5645 (1995)
- Treaty Establishing the European Community, arts. 48, 85, 86, Feb. 7, 1992, [1992] 1 C.M.L.R. 573, 612, incorporating changes made by Treaty on European Union, Feb. 7, 1992, O.J. C 224/1 (1992), [1992] C.M.L.R.
- Opinion of Advocate General Lenz, Union Royale Beige des Societes de Football Ass'n v. Bosman, Case C-415/93, slip op. at 16, 37 (Eur. Ct.J. Sept. 20, 1995).
- James G. Irving, Red Card: The Battle Over European Football’s Transfer System, University of Miami Law Review, Volume 56, Number 3, Article 7, April 1, 2002.
- David McArdle, From Boot Money to Bosman: Football, Society and the Law, London (Cavendish Publishing Limited), 2000.
- Radford v. Campbell, 6 TLR 488 (1890)
- Kingaby v. Aston Villa FC, (1912) The Times, 28 March.
- Eastham v. Newcastle United FC, 1 Ch 413 (1964).
- Rob Smyth, On Second Thoughts: The Galacticos Era, The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/football/2007/jul/13/realmadrid, July 13 2007.
- Aleksandar Hemon, Galacticos in Hell, Enjoying the Ritual Demise of Europe’s Priciest, Most Annoying Soccer Club, The New Republic, https://www.espn.com/soccer/real-madrid/story/4321616/real-madrids-galacticos-10-key-moments-of-era-that-brought-figozidaneronaldo-and-beckham-to-the-bernabeu, March 21, 2010.