Action brought on 10 July 2009 - Associazione 'Giulemanidallajuve v Commission

(Case T-273/09)

Language of the case: French

Parties

Applicant: Associazione 'Giulemanidallajuve (Cerignola, Italy) (represented by: L. Misson, G. Ernes and A. Pel, lawyers)

Defendant: Commission of the European Communities

Form of order sought

annul the contested decision of the Commission of the European Communities of 12 May 2009 annexed to the present application;

urge the Commission to undertake an enquiry in order to ascertain violations by FIGC, CONI, UEFA and FIFA of Articles 81 EC and 82 EC in order to:

annul the regulations infringing Articles 81 EC and 82 EC and the sanctions imposed by FIGC, CONI and UEFA on Juventus FC S.p.A. of Turin;

urge FIGC, CONI, UEFA and FIFA to give compensation equivalent to the loss actually suffered by the Association by the fact of the infringement of Articles 81 EC and 82 EC by those undertakings and associations of undertakings;

order all appropriate penalties.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The applicant seeks annulment of Commission Decision C(2009) 3916 of 12 May 2009 by which the Commission rejected, as lacking legitimate interest and lacking Community interest, the applicant's complaint concerning the alleged violations of Articles 81 EC and 82 EC committed by the Federazione Italiano Gioco Calcio (FIGC) (Italian National Soccer Federation), the Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (CONI) (Italian National Olympic Committee), the Union des associations européennes de football (UEFA) (Union of European Football Associations) and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (International Federation of Association Football) in relation to disciplinary measures imposed on Juventus Football Club S.p.A of Turin ('Juventus').

In support of its action, the applicant raises a number of pleas in law, alleging:

breach by the Commission of its duty to state reasons and its task of implementing and orienting competition policy, since the Commission has not taken into consideration the factual and legal elements set out in the complaint filed by the applicant, according to which the decisions taken by FIGC, CONI, UEFA and FIFA to relegate Juventus to League B of the Italian football championship and to prohibit it from taking part in the Champions League infringe Articles 81 EC and 82 EC;

breach of Article 81 EC, since the decisions taken by FIGC, CONI, UEFA and FIFA must be regarded as decisions of associations of undertakings which were not purely sport-related decisions and which had the effect of restricting competition in the entirety of the common market, since they harm the interests of consumers of goods and services on the football market and harm the competitive structure of the common market by their effect on Juventus;

abuse of a dominant position by FIGC, CONI, UEFA and FIFA in breach of Article 82 EC, in that they took decisions which were discriminatory, disproportionate and harmful to the rights of the defence of Juventus.

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