Is the Super League coming after UEFA’s defeat at the European Court of Justice? Dr. Michael Gerlinger, FC Bayern’s long-time legal director, does not believe so
“I don’t think it will lead to the Super League now”, It is Gerlinger’s first interview since leaving the record champions. In September 2023, the 50-year-old and the Munich club parted ways in a surprise move after 18 years of successful collaboration. Gerlinger, who served as Vice-President Sports Business and Competitions at FCB from 2021, is regarded as one of the spiritual fathers of the ECA, which quickly sided with UEFA in the Super League dispute and is responsible for marketing club competitions in a joint venture with the association. In this respect, he has been involved with the project from the very first time the idea of founding such an elite league was mooted.
“Regardless of the legal situation, enough clubs have already made it clear that they won’t take part. So the Super League will simply not be able to exist in practice,” believes Gerlinger. In fact, numerous top clubs had publicly renounced the project even after the ECJ ruling in December 2023, including the most important German clubs. Nevertheless, Gerlinger sees more complicated times ahead for UEFA and FIFA: “The decision contains some legal and technical passages that simply generally strengthen the position of athletes and clubs vis-à-vis the associations. “
Gerlinger: “The issue of money has been exhausted “
Gerlinger does not believe that the revival of the project, which had already collapsed in April 2021 and is being pushed forward by Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, is primarily about financial aspects: “The issue of money has been exhausted. It’s more about paranoia towards the Premier League and investor clubs out of fear that they could run away from Real Madrid or FC Barcelona. Because the Super League’s financial rules would probably have been stricter than UEFA’s.” From Gerlinger’s point of view, this could also be an obstacle for the Super League: That “the English have signed private contracts with UEFA after the 2021 break and are bound. “
