Is the European Court creating the new Bosman ruling? Similar to the latter, which marked football history upon its creation in 1995 and continues to impact modern football, a new complaint from a Belgian player and his club, Royal Antwerp, challenges the rules of UEFA and the Belgian federation before the Court of Justice of the European Union. However, it remains to be seen whether the decision rendered this morning will have as devastating an impact as the one initiated by Jean-Marc Bosman, who abolished the maximum number of foreign players in European teams, leading to a massive exodus, particularly of French players to England and Italy.

While at noon, the headlines are primarily focused on the blow dealt to UEFA in the Super League saga, another opinion rendered today by the Court of Justice could nevertheless significantly influence football in the years to come. Up to now, clubs participating in UEFA competitions, such as the Champions League, were required to register at least 8 locally trained players on a list of 25 qualified players. Among these eight players, at least four had to have been trained by the respective club.

Restrictions hindering competition?

The Court questions UEFA and national league restrictions on locally trained players, arguing that the obligation to comply with quotas of local players "could violate both competition rules and the free movement of workers." However, the Court specifies that "the national judge handling the case will have to verify whether this is the case or not." UEFA and the Belgian federation, the two parties involved, will thus have the opportunity to "demonstrate that these rules still encourage recruitment and training and are proportionate to this objective." If this measure aimed primarily to compel all European clubs to train locally, the abolition of these restrictions could see an increase in the number of players, especially from South America and Asia, in the squads of Europe's top clubs.