Judgment_paragraph 118 · European Superleague Company, SL v Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA) and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) (C-333/21)

118As to Article 101(1) TFEU, its application in a situation involving entities such as FIFA or UEFA entails proving the existence of an ‘agreement’, ‘concerted practice’ or ‘[decision by an association] of undertakings’, which themselves may be of different kinds and present in different forms. In particular, a decision of an association consisting in adopting or implementing rules having a direct impact on the conditions in which the economic activity is exercised by undertakings which are directly or indirectly members thereof may constitute such a ‘[decision by an association] of undertakings’ within the meaning of that provision (see, to that effect, judgments of 19 February 2002, Wouters and Others, C‑309/99, EU:C:2002:98, paragraph 64, and of 28 February 2013, Ordem dos Técnicos Oficiais de Contas, C‑1/12, EU:C:2013:127, paragraphs 42 to 45). In the present case, it is in the light of decisions of that nature that the referring court is referring questions to the Court on the interpretation of Article 101(1) TFEU, namely those consisting in FIFA’s and UEFA’s having adopted rules on the prior approval of international interclub football competitions, control of participation by professional football clubs and players in those competitions, and also the sanctions that may be imposed in the event of disregard of those rules on prior approval and participation.