posted on 2009-12-08, 09:43authored byBorja Garcia
The institutions of the European Union (EU) have been involved in football-related
matters for more than 30 years without having a direct competence in sport. This
apparent paradox is the starting point of this thesis, which investigates the origin,
development and consequences of EU policies on football. The EU interventions in
football issues are examined through a conceptual framework based on models of
agenda-setting and multilevel governance. This thesis draws on qualitative research
through primary sources, mainly semi-structured interviews and official documents.
The most important policy initiatives and decisions of the EU on football matters can be
grouped under three headings: freedom of movement for workers, football broadcasting
and football governance. EU institutions did not become involved in football matters by
their own volition, but as a result of their responsibilities to adjudicate in legal disputes
related to freedom of movement for workers and competition policy. The
commercialisation of professional football especially over the last few decades
generated internal conflicts in the governance of football that were only resolved with
recourse to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The EU has acted as an alternative
policy venue for football stakeholders wishing to challenge the decisions of football
federations. Thus, the EU and football appear as two systems of multilevel governance
that have coexisted in parallel for some time but have since clashed as a result of the
instrumentalisation of EU venues by football stakeholders.
The policies of the EU on football are a compromise between two different visions of
the game. Whereas football was initially introduced onto the EU agenda only in
economic terms through the ECJ and the Commission, the EU has subsequently
developed a more holistic and nuanced vision of football that takes into account its
wider social and cultural values. The intervention of the Member States and the
European Parliament, at the request of football governing bodies, facilitated the further
evolution of EU policies on football. As a result of all these processes, the authority of
federations such as the international football federation (Federation Internationale de
Football Association, FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)
has been diffused in favour of a horizontal network of governance that includes
representatives from players, clubs and leagues.