October 26: A Belgian court has ruled that European football’s domestic player quotas are compatible with EU law.
Belgian club Royal Antwerp and former player Lior Refaelov had argued in a Brussels court that local rules, both those of the Belgian FA and UEFA, unlawfully restricted competition and violated the free movement of EU workers.
Belgian professional football clubs must include at least eight players on their squad list who have been trained and developed by a Belgian club; of these, at least three must have played for a club in Belgium for a minimum of three years prior to their 21st birthday.
However, the Brussels court decided that the regulations were proportionate, justified by public interest objectives and did not excessively restrict the mobility of foreign players. The court argued that the rules served the public interest because they encourage the local development of youth players.
In 2023, following a damaging question on the application of Article 101 TFEU, the Court of Justice of the EU suggested that its own rules could infringe EU law.
It stated that “that the rules in question may result in indirect discrimination, based on nationality, against players from other member states. In this case, however, it remains possible for UEFA and the URBSFA to demonstrate that these rules nevertheless encourage recruitment and training, and that they are proportionate to that aim”.
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