Statligt stöd till idrott inom Europa och dess förenlighet med EU-rätten - En analys om statsstöd till idrottsområdet inom EU med fokus på professionell fotboll

Sammanfattning: Sport movement especially football has change its structure of the sport drastically during the 20th century. Football has transformed from being a non-profit activity with one of its purpose to gather the locals for a friendly game to a multibillion industry within Europe. EU: s competition law has played a crucial part to maintain the development for sport and to prevent distortion of competition from state aids given from the member states in the EU. The European Commission has investigated several cases regarding state aid provided to the sports clubs where the results of the outcome are various. State aid is given under different circumstances from the member states to the sports association, the most common ones are selling of land under market price, tax reductions or that the member state grant a loan to the sport association to reduce the financial pressure on the club. The concept to always support your local club is often perceived as a positive thing but is not always compatible with the EU competition law and especially state aid law. To encourage a healthy competition in sports it is necessary for the EU competition law to give a desirable effect on the sports area. State aid is not always prohibited according to the EU Treaties, but a consideration is made from the principle of proportionality where requirements on fairness, adequacy and necessity is examined whether to obtain a legitimate intervention from the state aid or not. The purpose with this consideration is that no economic advantage is given to a sport club and to prevent distortion of competition within the sport area. State aids awarded must be notified to the Commission for a preliminary investigation before they are implemented, exemption from notification is in the form of exemption and de minimis aid. The consequences of non-notified aid is reimbursement from the receiver, which can have devastating consequences for the sports club.