Judgment_paragraph 151 · European Superleague Company, SL v Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA) and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) (C-333/21)

151In that perspective, it should be noted that, in order for it to be held that the rules on prior approval of sporting competitions and participation in those competitions, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, are subject to transparent, objective and precise substantive criteria as well as to transparent and non-discriminatory detailed procedural rules that do not deny effective access to the market, it is necessary, in particular, that those criteria and those detailed rules should have been laid down in an accessible form prior to any implementation of those rules. Moreover, in order for those criteria and detailed rules to be regarded as being non-discriminatory, it is necessary, given, inter alia, the fact that entities such as FIFA and UEFA themselves carry on various economic activities on the market concerned by their rules on prior approval and participation, that those same criteria and detailed rules should not make the organisation and marketing of third-party competitions and the participation of clubs and players therein subject to requirements which are either different from those applicable to competitions organised and marketed by the decision-making entity, or are identical or similar to them but are impossible or excessively difficult to fulfil in practice for an undertaking that does not have the same status as an association or does not have the same powers at its disposal as that entity and accordingly is in a different situation to that entity. Lastly, in order for the sanctions introduced as an adjunct to rules on prior approval and participation, such as those at issue in the main proceedings, not to be discretionary, they must be governed by criteria that must not only be transparent, objective, precise and non-discriminatory, but must also guarantee that those sanctions are determined, in each specific case, in accordance with the principle of proportionality, in the light of, inter alia, the nature, duration and seriousness of the infringement found.