Research Paper on European Football

Author's Thoughts About the Project

The topic on European Football and that of sports, in general, have taken up very little attention of researchers in the past as it pertains to the importance of sporting activities in enhancing Europeanisation.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

I settled on the investigation of the topic mainly because it is of interest towards establishing the link between the concept of Europeanisation and the usefulness of football as a means of enhancing Europeanisation. This topic became of interest to me because of the idea surrounding European football as a hallmark of common interest among people of the EU. In that esteem, I intend to present an argument for the role of football in the enhancement of coordination and collaboration among members of the EU.

Further, the research also serves to develop knowledge and understanding as pertains to the importance of EU institutions and sporting agencies, and football institutions in the Europeanisation development process. The research itself was a significant challenge to embark on since there were issues to be considered such as availability of sources, access to information, the time, and the budget that it would require to execute the project successfully.

In the process of my contemplation and consideration of the resources at my disposal, I settled on the case study method as an approach for data collection and analysis. I realized that conducting primary research would be impractical given limitations that bound me such as time and financial backing.

Nonetheless, I also noted the vastness of secondary literature that is available on the topic and that could serve adequately in the provision of information sources for the research. Hence, I embarked on the study taking the case study approach. Moreover, The Lisbon Treaty and the Bosman Ruling proved the most ideal case studies affecting the movement of football players, thus, my decision to conduct the research on the basis of the two.

Abstract

The Treaty of Lisbon and The Bosman Ruling are landmark events in the history of European Union football. The research evaluates the two cases in a case study qualitative approach that is intent on evaluating the merits of the cases as pertains to freedom of players to move from one club to another. Drawing on literature sources, the report is founded on knowledge gathered from secondary sources that encompass legal documents, articles of association, and Court rulings among other institutional documents that inform on the topic. The theoretical underpinnings of the study draw from Europeanisation theory with implications for the enhancement of corporation in the EU. The findings of the study suggest a strong relationship between the case studies under evaluation in regards to implications for player transfer mobility in the European Union. The report offers insight into the role of the European Union, football-governing agencies, and football clubs in enhancing Europeanization through the establishment of player transfer friendly rules to govern the sport of football in the European Union.

Introduction

In the light of recent activities by the European Union (EU) institutions a pertains to "sports law", for instance, the Bosman ruling in 1995, and the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty 200 the aim of this study is to examine the interaction between European football and the European Union and if it can generate Europeanization.

The study makes use of the theories of Europeanization from the perspectives of Johan P Olsen and Claudo M Radaelli to construct a theoretical framework in which Europeanization is seen as an interaction between the European level and the domestic level. The study focusses on changes and actors in the Europeanization process. Moreover, it evaluates how the European Union as a top-level influence and European football as a bottom-level influence each contribute to the European changes. The resolve of the study is to investigate the interaction between European football and the EU and its effects on a national level.

The theoretical framework approach for the analysis of findings will be used to examine the Bosman case and the Lisbon Treaty implementation in a European football context. The aim of the researcher is also to examine the state of player mobility especially after EU legislation that put the Bosman 1995 ruling into effect and ultimately blocked players from freely moving from one cub to the other (Royal club liegeois SA v Jean-Marc Bosman and others, 1995).

Football is a great sport. In the football world global level, the Federation International de Football Association (FIFA) has more members' states than the United Nations. On a European level, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has more member states than the EU. The governing sports organizations have organized international tournaments bringing Europeans together, either playing in or to cheer on teams together.

One should not forget that football is part of civil society and a popular movement that engages a substantial portion of its citizens. We can just look back upon the European Championships 2012 to see how it affects the population in different nations. Football is not an abstract and inaccessible social-political attribute; it is, in fact, a conscious part of people's lives (Brand & Niemann, 2007, p. 184).

The general approach of the international sports federations FIFA and UEFA is that sports should be treated autonomously with special considerations for immunity from control by the legislature. On the other hand, others note it is another economic activity that should fall under EU law. The development of EU law in the field of sports has been a slow process. Nevertheless, the body of judgments and the importance of EU law have grown steadily. Football, in particular, has developed a great deal since its invention.

Sportsmen or football players move from one club to another motivated by economic considerations. Clubs, on the other hand, have been very keen on maintaining their best players and put them under lengthy contracts. Consequently, there has been a great deal of tension between clubs and players concerning the balance of power. The conflict consists of contractual stability versus player mobility. The latter one touches upon the fundamental right of free movement of persons established by the Lisbon treaty.

In the European context, the EU has greater power than the powers of the European football movement, and they are thus not to be seen as equal partners. The question is how does the EU and football clubs control mobility and contracts? Since the Lisbon Treaty came into force in December 2009, sports have become of special interest to the EU. However, the EU should have minimal involvement by instead playing a supporting role (European Commission, 2018).

The Lisbon Treaty established rules governing players, and their agents, as well as football clubs among others (Parrish, et al., 2014, p. 9). The European football industry in defiance to the EU rules on player transfer restrictions has battled the EU in court cases for the purpose of reinstating the right of players to move from one club to another and one EU state to another.

Background of the Study

Sentiments by Caiger and O'Leary (2000, 198), suggest that player transfer restrictions imposed by the EU are indirect and unfair management of players by the EU government. Hence, providing the clubs with the power of imposing transfer restraints is uncharacteristic of the football sport, it takes away from the fact that football, and sports, are separate from all other normal industries. The study assumes the novel nature of the research and the fact that the audience may not be familiar with its content.

Therefore, the researcher found it appropriate to start out by introducing the framework of the sport and the rules governing sports upheld by the Court. Further, the study intends to utilise Olsen and Radaelli's theories and identify appropriate cases, to try them on. That is done to develop knowledge of the effects of the Bosman ruling as well as the effects of the Lisbon Treaty on football. This is explained in Brymans' book speaks of the deductive approach, which is the basis of the research methods of data analysis (Bryman, 2008, p. 11).

The Bosman case toppled the stability in the football sector as pertains to the transfer of players. The study will introduce the audience to the tensions between the EU and football governing bodies such as FIFA with implications for transfer rules. The study will equally present the Lisbon treaty implementation to EU sports law. The researcher's intention being to dedicate the last parts of the developments in sports law by the EU. As such, the study does not have the ambition to explain the entire development of European club football and the EU from the Bosman ruling until...