Complete 10 page APA formatted essay: SPORTS/EU LAW.The current position is that six out of the 25 players a club can register at UEFA competitions will have to be home grown players2with eight home g

Complete 10 page APA formatted essay: SPORTS/EU LAW.

The current position is that six out of the 25 players a club can register at UEFA competitions will have to be home grown players2with eight home grown players for the 2008/09 season3.

This clearly raises competition issues under Article 81 of the Treaty and this analysis will critically evaluate the impact of European Union law on sport regulation and restraint of trade,

specifically in the wake of the infamous ruling in the Bosman case on the transfer of footballers within Europe. Furthermore, I will undertake a comparative analysis with the position under EU law prior to the Bosman decision with an evaluation of the implications for the evolving transfer culture prevalent in the global nature of the game.

The leading case of Bosman4 impacted the ability of clubs to limit use foreign players in their leagues. In this case, Bosman played for the Belgian first division team FC Liefe. However, in 1990 at the end of the season, Bosman wanted to move to French side Dunkirk and FC Liege tried to stop the move from taking place, by using the cross border transfer ruling at the time, which meant that clubs had to agree to a fee before a player was allowed to transfer, however Bosman protested against this arguing that the football regulations on payment of transfer fees stopped EU citizens from having the human right of freedom of movement in employment.

In 1995 the European Court of Justice rule in favour of Jean Marc Bosman deciding that the existing football transfer rules were in breach of the European Union Law on the free movement of workers between members states. As a result, “the European Union demanded that regulations concerning players’ transfers and limitations on foreign players be amended almost immediately.5”

This ruling led to the free movement of footballers between clubs within EU countries. Moreover, the Bosman ruling imposes freedom of movement for players leading some to argue that this results in