European Court rules against Barcelona fans over Messi deal

LUXEMBOURG (AP) — The European Court has ruled against a Barcelona fan group in France that demanded that the European Commission should investigate whether Paris Saint-Germain unfairly signed Lionel Messi and jeopardized Barcelona’s finances. The court in Luxembourg decided that the European Commission does not have to accept the group as an interested party and is not obligated to open an investigation into its complaint of alleged unlawful state aid to PSG. The demand was presented in October by a fan group in Lyon that argued their rights as Barcelona members were being violated by clubs who had an unfair advantage because of allegedly inefficient financial fair play rules in places such as France.