Barca, Juve and Madrid win court ruling over ESL
Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid have stated their intention to press on with the European Super League after a court protected them against UEFA disciplinary proceedings.
The project suffered an ill-fated launch earlier this year, and was effectively shut down after a highly charged backlash from fans and the football world in general.
However on Saturday (AEST), the mercantile court in Madrid threw out UEFA's appeal against its ruling earlier this month that stated disciplinary proceedings concerned with the founding 12 Super League clubs must be scrapped.
The Spanish pair and Italian giant welcomed the decision against what they termed "UEFA threats" and condemned European football's governing body for its "monopolistic position" over its governance of the game in a joint statement.
The case will now be assessed by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
"FC Barcelona, Juventus, and Real Madrid welcome today's court's decision enforcing, with immediate effect, UEFA's obligation to unwind the actions taken against all European Super League founding clubs, including terminating the disciplinary proceedings against the undersigning three clubs and removing the penalties and restrictions imposed on the remaining nine founding clubs for them to avoid UEFA's disciplinary action," the statement read.
"The court backs the request made by the promoters of the European Super League, dismisses UEFA's appeal, and confirms its warning to UEFA that failure to comply with its ruling shall result in fines and potential criminal liability."
The statement continued: "Our aim is to keep developing the Super League project in a constructive and cooperative manner, always counting on all football stakeholders: fans, players, coaches, clubs, leagues, and national and international associations.
"We are aware that there are elements of our proposal that should be reviewed and, of course, can be improved through dialogue and consensus. We remain confident in the success of a project that will be always compliant with European Union laws."
The proposed Super League format guaranteed participation for its 12 founders but quickly prompted outrage across the football world in April.
Participating Premier League clubs Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal pulled out and AC Milan, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid soon followed.
Those nine clubs each agreed to pay €15 million ($24 million) in support of European grassroots football initiatives and cede five per cent of their revenues from UEFA club competitions in the forthcoming season after reconciliation talks with European football's governing body.
Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid did not stand down, prompting a UEFA investigation and the launch of disciplinary proceedings in May that were expected to yield harsher punishments.
Saturday's (AEST) ruling in the Spanish capital effectively renders all of those measures void, however. UEFA is yet to comment on the latest developments.