UEFA is facing a €20m (£17.5m) lawsuit from Chilean sports consultancy MatchVision, which claims the European football governing body stole its patented competition format for the revamped Champions League.
The case, initially filed in April at a commercial court in Madrid, has now been transferred to Lausanne, Switzerland, where UEFA is based. MatchVision alleges that UEFA used its “pots” system, copyrighted in Chile in 2006, without authorisation when introducing the new league-phase format for European club competitions in 2024.
Leandro Shara, founder of MatchVision, says he presented the format to UEFA as early as 2013 and at several sports conferences thereafter. He insists that FIFA has recognised the system as the company’s intellectual property and argues UEFA’s adoption amounts to “misappropriation.”
The updated Champions League format, commonly called the “Swiss model,” replaced the traditional group stage with a single league table of 36 teams. Each club plays eight different opponents, two from each of four seeded pots. MatchVision contends that this specific “pots” structure closely mirrors its original design.
In the lawsuit, MatchVision is seeking €20,005,551 in damages, plus €200,000 in personal compensation for Shara, alongside interest for three seasons. Shara has also warned that legal action could extend to other individuals or organisations who “knowingly facilitated the infringement.”
Shara accused UEFA of attempting to “disconnect this system from its creator” by rebranding it under various names, adding that his company was forced to act after previous cease-and-desist letters were ignored.
UEFA has not yet been formally served but will have 20 business days to respond once notified. A spokesperson previously dismissed the claims as “baseless” and stated the organisation intends to “defend its position.”
