When supporters, clubs, governing bodies, and institutions came together to resist the so-called European super league in 2021, one concept played a key role in the defence against it: the European Sport Model.
At the time, it might have sounded like academic jargon. But in reality, it lays out the essence of what makes European football’s identity. Below, we outline why it is still worth protecting – particularly with new threats such as attempts to move domestic league matches abroad emerging.
What is the European Sport Model?
The European Sport Model is not a European law, nor an agreement that countries sign up to, but an outline of the characteristics and values that have become common across European sport throughout its evolution, including football.
The European Sport Model (often shortened to “ESM”) rests on a few key principles:
- Open competitions: Promotion and relegation through a pyramid structure ensure that success is earned on the pitch, not handed out behind closed doors. It is this that instils the sense of ambition and jeopardy that defines European football.
- Solidarity: Money flows through the pyramid, supporting grassroots clubs as well as professional teams.
- Community: Clubs are anchored in their towns, cities, and regions. They aren’t just businesses—they’re part of people’s identities and social lives.
- Autonomy & Democracy: Governing bodies are independent and hold democratic values.
Taken together, these principles create a structure that should be competitive, fair, and deeply connected to society. By talking about the European Sport Model, we have a clear understanding of the principles that football governance should uphold. In a nutshell, it signals that sports should be rooted in common values rather than for-profit entertainment.
Why it became so important for football
When 12 clubs tried to launch a closed European super league, these principles were put under direct threat. The project would have scrapped open competition in favour of permanent membership, concentrated wealth and power even further at the top without representation or democracy, and hollowed out the connection between clubs and their communities.
The backlash was immediate and overwhelming. Supporters, players, governments, and governing bodies all rallied against it. In those decisive days, the European Sport Model became the common language used to explain what was at stake and why football in Europe needed protecting.
Why it’s still relevant today
Looking ahead, the European Sport Model has an important role to play in guiding football, particularly as it faces new threats. It continues to underpin the structure and nature of football across the continent. Its principles—promotion and relegation, openness, and solidarity—are what give European football its sense of competitive fairness and ambition and cements local communities.
Challenges like proposals to export domestic league matches abroad show why the model matters. Taking games away from the communities that sustain them would weaken the social role of clubs and tilt the balance of competition even further towards the richest and most powerful clubs. It would also disrupt the balance of home and away matches which is the bedrock of football leagues. By sticking to the European Sport Model, we can defend the European game’s fairness, identity, and stability.
Defending the future of the game
Football Supporters Europe and the vast majority of other key football stakeholders are committed to defending these principles. The European Sport Model is not just an abstract academic concept, it’s the everyday reality that encapsulates the essence of football as we know it.
Whether it’s blocking a breakaway league, stopping domestic fixtures being exported, or a future threat, the same message applies: European football belongs to our stadiums, our cities, our communities. To safeguard that future, European football’s stakeholders, supporters, players, clubs, leagues, and institutions, must come together to strengthen and protect the game. The European Sport Model provides a clear roadmap, built on openness, solidarity, and community, to guide this process and protect European football’s identity and tradition.
The Own-Initiative Report on the Role of EU Sport Policy in Shaping the European Sport Model was adopted by a large majority on 7 October 2025. You can read it here.
The European Commission has launched an open consultation on building on the European Sport Model. FSE encourages supporters to complete it here.