Could the PL and FA rules be challenged by third party rights owners?
Should a third party owner wish to market its players to PL or FL clubs and retain an economic interest, they may decide that the courts are the most suitable avenue to enforce any rights they feel may have been encroached upon. One option is competition law and Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (previously Article 81 of the EC Treaty) or Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998. Take the PL rules as an example. When its constituent owners (its 20 football clubs) voted to effectively ban third party ownership in the PL, such a decision could be construed as an agreement between undertakings which has as its object or effect, the prevention, distortion or restriction of competition.
