A Critical Analysis of the Application of State Aid Rules to Sport
| Date | 01 April 2015 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X1502200204 |
| Published date | 01 April 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
22 MJ 2 (2015) 209
A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE APPLICATION
OF STATE AID RULES TO SPORT
P N*
ABSTRACT
is article examines the application of state aid rule s to sport and sport infrastr ucture.
Sporting activities and their public nancing fall within the scope of Article107(1) TFEU
when such activitie s are economic in nature. e article ex amines under which conditions
sport is an economic activity. e public funding of s port infrastructure such as stadiums
and arenas raises state aid issue s at four levels: e owners of the inf rastructure, the
constructors, the ope rators, and the users. is article ex amines the conditions under
which state aid is either removed or made to be compatible w ith the internal market.
Keywords: economic activ ity; infrastruct ure; sport; state aid
§1. IN T RODUC T IO N
is ar ticle examines the application of state aid ru les to sport and sport infrastr ucture.
Ever since the judgment of the Court of Just ice of December 1995 in the celebrated
Bosman1 case, there has always been a tension bet ween the rules of competit ion and
sporting activities. is a rticle exami nes the application of state aid ru les to sport
and sport infr astructu re. As is well known, A rticle 107(1) TFEU applies to any public
measure irrespective of its objectives or the ai ms of the granting aut hority. A public
measure constitutes state a id when all four of the criteria of Article107(1) TFEU hold at
the same time: (i) there is a tra nsfer of state resources to an undertaki ng; (ii) the transfer
confers an advantage; (iii) the advantage is selec tive; and (iv) there is a ectation of trade
and distor tion of competition.
* Professor at the Col lege of Europe, Bruges, a nd Professor at the University of M aastricht. I am gr ateful
to the editors of th is special issue for com ments on an earlier version of th is article.
1 See Case C-415/93 Union Ro yale Belge des So ciétés de Footba ll Association v. Jean -Marc Bosman,
EU:C:1995:463.
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