UEFA, Governance, and the Control of Club Competition in ...

from the laws of the game to the organisation of leagues and cups operates within a singleorganisational framework. The integrated governance structure also means that the nationalassociations, confederations and FIFA effectively enjoy a monopoly position of control over theregulation and organisation of football. There is a single governing body for each national territory,a single confederation in each continent sanctioned by FIFA, and a single worldwide federation.The rules of these bodies forbid football to be organised outside their own structures, and ensurethat leagues and clubs are, theoretically, subordinate to the national associations. As the EuropeanCommission states: ‘by means of rules, usually involving sanctions for those taking part inchampionships which have not been organised by the international federation, these organisationstry to maintain their position’ (European Commission Directorate General X, Sport Unit, 1999: 3).The monopoly position of the sporting governing bodies also affords the national associations theauthority to require clubs to release players for international fixtures organised by the nationalassociations. As Szymanski argues, ‘soccer associations of Europe wield enormous power’(Szymanski, 2004a: 31).UEFA’s position in the pyramid is less obvious than one would first imagine. Whilst theorganisation of football in Europe can be seen in the context of the ‘European model’, the hierarchyof governance extends beyond European parameters. Whilst the confederations, including UEFA,have a role in governance by electing their continental representatives to the FIFA executivecommittee, UEFA fulfils a different role to FIFA and the national associations. FIFA was formed in1904, before any of the other confederations, and 50 years before UEFA. Composed of the nationalassociations regulating football in their own domestic territories, FIFA was formed in order toensure unity of regulation across a globe in which football had become almost instantly popular.The formation of FIFA prior to the continental confederations (of which the South Americanconfederation CONMEBOL was the first in 1916) means that the regulatory role of theconfederations was bypassed, and that the national associations joined together to form FIFA to coordinatethis function. Whereas UEFA controls and regulates competitions within its domain, itdoes not have a wider regulatory role, as do FIFA and the national associations. The historicalquirk, in which the formation of FIFA predated the formation of the continental confederations, hasmeant that the pyramid of governance is not geographically coherent. In a perfect geographicalpyramid of governance one would expect the confederations to regulate football in each continent,and to be members of FIFA. The dual membership of national associations of both UEFA and FIFAis also at the heart of some of the tensions between the two organisations.Within the governance pyramid there is also a system of competition, which is defined bythe principle of promotion and relegation between leagues. Clubs performing in the lower leaguescan aspire to higher leagues, and, equally, clubs performing in the higher leagues are at the annualrisk of relegation to the lower leagues through poor sporting performance. Clubs qualify forEuropean competition, organised by UEFA, on the basis of performance in national competitionsensuring interdependence between all levels. It is this aspect of the European model that draws themost frequent comparisons with the organisation of American sport. All the major sports in theUnited States operate closed leagues, with entry and exit limited to changes in franchise withcontinued and new participation depending on financial rather than sporting performance. Withinthis context players are often shared between teams through the ‘draft’ system in professional sportin which players are selected from college teams. The weakest team gains the first selection in anattempt to maintain a high degree of competitive balance. According to Musso, ‘the pyramid formof sports organisation and the promotion/relegation system are a common feature and a guarantee ofthe sporting dimension, which is superior to the economic one’ (Musso, 2003: 22).Two further crucial elements distinguish the organisation of sport in Europe and the UnitedStates. Firstly, American sports are largely self-contained with a single market for players. Eachsport (basketball, American football, baseball, ice hockey) has a single competition, which iscontrolled by the clubs themselves. The elite clubs do not compete against clubs at different levelsof game, nor do they form a representative national side to compete against other nations. InEurope, the opposite is true. Secondly, clubs compete in a variety of different spheres (i.e. between11