Abstract
This chapter analyses the social, political, historical and economic context of the Bosman case. The chapter argues that Bosman needs to be understood as yet another stage of a continued process of commercialisation and transformation in European football: players fought to transform their employment conditions since the 1960s; clubs questioned the legitimacy of UEFA to regulate European football and organise club competitions as they wanted a larger share of the commercial profits of the game; finally, political institutions in Brussels started to exert pressure on football governing bodies to modify the international transfer system. The chapter argues that, taking these into account, major transformations in the governance and regulation structures of football were needed, and they would have happened even without the Bosman ruling. Consequently, Bosman cannot be seen, on its own, as the only cause of the transformation of modern football in Europe. Finally, the chapter dedicates some space to Jean Marc Bosman’s legal team composed by Luc Misson and Jean-Louis Dupont. It was their legal expertise what made a challenge before the Belgian and European courts also possible.
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Notes
- 1.
Johansson, This Ruling Is Nothing Short of a Disaster. The European, 21 December 1995.
- 2.
Case C-415/93 Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association and others v. Bosman and others, ECLI:EU:C:1995:463.
- 3.
See Giulianotti 1999, p. 168 et seq.
- 4.
See for example Niemann et al. 2011.
- 5.
Tomlinson 1983, p. 173.
- 6.
Lanfranchi and Taylor 2001, p. 218.
- 7.
Roderick 2006, p. 116.
- 8.
McArdle 2000, p. 19.
- 9.
Roderick 2006, p. 116.
- 10.
McArdle 2000, p. 25.
- 11.
Lanfranchi and Taylor 2001, p. 216.
- 12.
Opinion of Advocate General Lenz in Case C-415/93 Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association and others v. Bosman and others, ECLI:EU:C:1995:293, para 20.
- 13.
UEFA, Vision Europe, the direction and development of European football over the next decade, p. 16. http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/374875.pdf. Accessed 21 July 2015.
- 14.
Greenfield and Osborn 2001, p. 76.
- 15.
Ibid., p. 79.
- 16.
Ibid., p. 80.
- 17.
- 18.
An agreement by the clubs and the governing body to limit the salary of the players (i.e. what we call nowadays a salary cap, but without the players’ agreement).
- 19.
Platts and Smith 2010, p. 650.
- 20.
Ibid., p. 645 et seq.
- 21.
Lanfranchi and Taylor 2001, p. 217.
- 22.
The French strike: a rough guide. Goal, 7 October 2008. http://www.goal.com/en/news/8/main/2008/10/07/900511/the-french-strike-a-rough-guide. Accessed 21 July 2015.
- 23.
The right to retain stipulated that clubs could retain the registration of players at the end of their contract by offering a 10 per cent salary rise. Players were unable to move to other clubs without the consent of their employer. See La retención en el fútbol español, práctica ‘esclavista’ hasta 1979. El País, 29 March 1985. http://elpais.com/diario/1985/03/29/deportes/480898805_850215.html. Accessed 21 July 2015.
- 24.
González, Histórico: Se consumó la huelga de futbolistas. El País, 4 March 1979. http://elpais.com/diario/1979/03/04/deportes/289350006_850215.html. Accessed 21 July 2015; González, La asociación de futbolistas mantuvo la huelga, pero jugarán casi todos los profesionales. El País, 11 April 1982. http://elpais.com/diario/1982/04/11/deportes/387324003_850215.html. Accessed 21 July 2015.
- 25.
González, Los futbolistas desconvocaron oficialmente la huelga. El País, 13 April 1982. http://elpais.com/diario/1982/04/13/deportes/387496825_850215.html. Accessed 21 July 2015.
- 26.
La retención en el fútbol español, práctica ‘esclavista’ hasta 1979. El País, 29 March 1985. http://elpais.com/diario/1985/03/29/deportes/480898805_850215.html. Accessed 21 July 2015; Paradinas, El derecho de retención de futbolistas, a punto de desaparecer. El País, 1 June 1979. http://elpais.com/diario/1979/06/01/deportes/297036015_850215.html. Accessed 21 July 2015.
- 27.
La retención en el fútbol español, práctica ‘esclavista’ hasta 1979. El País, 29 March 1985. http://elpais.com/diario/1985/03/29/deportes/480898805_850215.html. Accessed 21 July 2015.; See also García et al. 2011.
- 28.
Roderick 2006, p. 116.
- 29.
Lanfranchi and Taylor 2001, pp. 218–219.
- 30.
Ibid., pp. 49–50.
- 31.
Greenfield and Osborn 2001, p. 85.
- 32.
Lanfranchi and Taylor 2001, p. 96.
- 33.
Ibid., p. 97.
- 34.
Case C-13/76 Gaetano Donà v Mario Mantero, ECLI:EU:C:1976:115.
- 35.
Ibid., para 17; See also Case 36/74 Walrave and Koch v. Union Cycliste Internationale, ECLI:EU:C:1974:140, para 17.
- 36.
García 2007, p. 205.
- 37.
European Commission (1996) Note de la DG4 présentée à la Commission: Conséquences de l’arret Bosman; affaire C 415/93 de la Court de Justice. SEC 212/1.; See also Case C-415/93 Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association and others v. Bosman and others, ECLI:EU:C:1995:463.
- 38.
- 39.
Murray 1994, p. 1.
- 40.
Marples 1954, p. 107.
- 41.
Murray 1994, p. 13.
- 42.
Ibid., p. 14.
- 43.
Ibid.
- 44.
Ibid., p. 15.
- 45.
Giulianotti 1999, pp. 4–5.
- 46.
Murray 1994, p. 17.
- 47.
Giulianotti 1999, p. 5.
- 48.
Ibid.
- 49.
Giulianotti 1999, p. 166.
- 50.
Ibid., p. 167.
- 51.
Ibid., p. 168.
- 52.
Ibid.
- 53.
See for example Cloake, Why Stand Against Modern Football? NewStatesman, 23 August 2013, http://www.newstatesman.com/business/2013/08/why-stand-against-modern-football. Accessed 22 July 2015; The Stand Against Modern Football fanzine. http://www.standamf.com/. Accessed 1 September 2015.
- 54.
Giulianotti 1999, p. 168. See also Webber (2014) No longer the people’s game: Karl Polanyi and the double movement ‘Against Modern Football’, Football Research in an Enlarged Europe (FREE) Conference, Loughborough University, 24–25 October 2014. http://www.free-project.eu/documents-free/Working%20Papers/Webber%20No%20Longer%20the%20Peoples%20Game%20Karl%20Polanyi%20and%20the%20Double%20Movement%20Against%20Modern%20Football.pdf. Accessed 22 July 2015.
- 55.
Giulianotti 1999, p. 169.
- 56.
Ibid.
- 57.
Ibid.
- 58.
- 59.
- 60.
Ibid., p. 31.
- 61.
In the 1997–1998 season the participation in the Champions League was open for the first time to clubs other than the national league champions. Under the current format, up to the fourth team in Europe’s top ranked leagues can qualify for the tournament, albeit for the preliminary round.
- 62.
In basketball, some clubs and professional leagues broke away in 1991 from the sport’s main governing body (FIBA) to form the Union of European Leagues of Basketball (ULEB) and organise their own competition called the Euroleague. For some years, the Euroleague co-existed with FIBA’s own European Champions Cup, both trying to attract the top teams in Europe. At present, the Euroleague has finally established itself as the top European club competition in basketball.
- 63.
- 64.
Resolution of the European Parliament of 11 April 1989, A2-415/188 on the Freedom of Movement of Professional Football Players in the Community, OJ C120.
- 65.
Lanfranchi and Taylor 2001, p. 221.
- 66.
Resolution of the European Parliament of 11 April 1989, A2-415/188 on the Freedom of Movement of Professional Football Players in the Community, OJ C120, para 1.
- 67.
Ibid., para 4 et seq.
- 68.
Ibid., para 16.
- 69.
García and Meier 2012.
- 70.
- 71.
The 3+2 formula was agreed between the Commission and UEFA on 18 April 1991; See UEFA, Agenda for the 8th UEFA conference for presidents and general secretaries of member associations (Montreux, 20 September 1991) and UEFA (1992) Report of the Secretary General for the years 1990 and 1991). The 3+2 formula was to be applied first in the top-divisions of professional football, being extended to the rest of non-amateur football by the end of the 1996–97 season.
- 72.
L’UEFA veut-elle la guerre? La Dernière Heure, 19 January 1996; La UE tomará los cuartos de final como prueba en la sentencia Bosman. El País, 19 January 1996.
- 73.
European Parliament (1994) The European Community and sport. Committee on Culture, Youth and the Media, A3-0326/94.
- 74.
Interview with Luc Misson (Liège, 6 June 2006).
- 75.
Ibid.
- 76.
For more on Jean-Louis Dupont’s background and agenda, see Bent et al. 2000, pp. 9–22.
- 77.
Interview with Luc Misson (Liège, 6 June 2006).
- 78.
Ibid.
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García, B. (2016). He Was not Alone: Bosman in Context. In: Duval, A., Van Rompuy, B. (eds) The Legacy of Bosman. ASSER International Sports Law Series. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-120-3_2
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