MADRID, March 9 (EUROPA PRESS) –
UEFA welcomed the opinion offered this Thursday by the General Advocate of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) who considers that it contravenes EU regulations to allow clubs to count young people signed in other teams in the same team as youth players national league to meet the quota of locally trained players required by the governing body of continental soccer.
“UEFA welcomes today’s Thursday opinion of the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which supports its important social and sporting mission of encouraging football clubs to invest in the training of young players and improve the balance competitive throughout Europe,” the agency said in a statement.
The association welcomed “the conclusions” issued by Maciej Szpunar on the case involving Antwerp on the legality of its regulations and that of the Royal Belgian Football Federation which “requires that clubs that play in European and Belgian club competitions, respectively, register a minimum number of players to be trained locally”.
For the body chaired by Aleksander Ceferin, the General Advocate “supports” his commitment to “promote the development of young people and competitive balance throughout Europe”, stressing that the lawyer points out that football “would lose part of its appeal without rules that pursue those goals.” “In doing so, he acknowledges that football is not only a commercial activity but also one of ‘considerable social importance,'” he adds.
“UEFA now looks forward to the CJEU ruling and, in the meantime, will remain focused on its core mission of nurturing all levels of the European football pyramid based on open and exciting competitions, strong solidarity mechanisms, sporting merit and a system world-class youth team, in close collaboration with associations, leagues, clubs, players, fans and national public authorities”, states the body, which also “takes note of the lawyer’s recommendation to improve the effectiveness of current regulations”.