Professional football club licensing in Europe

This chapter is about the licensing of professional football clubs (‘club licensing’). Club licensing is a worldwide phenomenon, promulgated by FIFA. It is part of a self-regulatory framework developed by the football community itself. This contribution describes the architecture of the club licensing system in light of the football pyramid, aims to set out its objectives as well as the key features including the instruments and mechanisms deployed to implement and enforce the licensing criteria with a focus on Europe. The aspects that are addressed include the hierarchy in the club licensing regulations, the configuration of the UEFA club licensing system and the different actors in it, the key elements of the UEFA club licensing criteria and deliberations on national club competition licensing systems and their interaction with the UEFA club licensing system.