La sentenza FIGC e CONI: giustizia sportiva e nozione di giurisdizione nel diritto dell'Unione europea

This paper analyses the judgment of the Court of Justice of 16 July 2026 in Joined Cases C-424/24 and C-425/24 (FIGC and CONI), concerning the compatibility with European Union law of the Italian sports justice system, with particular regard to the power of administrative courts to annul sports disciplinary sanctions and the qualification of sports justice bodies as “courts or tribunals” within the meaning of Article 19(1) TEU. Through a comparison with the Opinion of Advocate General Spielmann, the Authors show how the Court replaced the categorical rule proposed by the Advocate General with a functional and cumulative test, which makes the compatibility of the Italian system conditional on a case-by-case verification of the requirements of independence, impartiality, establishment by law, and effectiveness of judicial review vested in sports justice bodies. The paper also examines the issues left unresolved by the judgment (the substantially criminal nature of disciplinary sanctions in light of the Engel criteria, the connection with competition law, and the differentiated regime for anti-doping disputes) and puts forward some reform options for the Italian legislature, critically assessing their actual effectiveness.