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The CJEU rules in the Diarra case – FIFA’s transfer rules restrict free movement and competition
Continue reading: The CJEU rules in the Diarra case – FIFA’s transfer rules restrict free movement and competitionFrom a competition law perspective, sport is, in some ways, unlike other industries. It may be driven by ideals other than profit, such as sporting merit and fair play. It also only functions through collaboration: associations, leagues and clubs need to agree on fixture dates and kick-off times, amongst other things. But sport also involves…
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“Like ships in the night” – the Court of Appeal’s Hydrocortisone judgment vindicates CMA and brings welcome order to a procedure that had been spinning out of control
Continue reading: “Like ships in the night” – the Court of Appeal’s Hydrocortisone judgment vindicates CMA and brings welcome order to a procedure that had been spinning out of controlThe CMA’s pharma cases have generated a lot of work for the UK’s antitrust lawyers and economists, with a good proportion of practitioners having worked on at least one of Paroxetine, Phenytoin, Liothyronine or Hydrocortisone over the past few years. Dawn raids and large fines in these pharma cases highlighted the emergence of a more…
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Competition law in sports: it’s time to talk about merger control
Continue reading: Competition law in sports: it’s time to talk about merger controlWhen the US hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1994, it was said to have spent $500 million on the tournament. Fast forward to 2022, Qatar reportedly spent a whopping $220 billion. Sport is now “big business” . . . and being big business means competition law scrutiny. There are three main fields of competition…
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AG Opinion in FIFA v BZ – Further competition trouble for football rules
Continue reading: AG Opinion in FIFA v BZ – Further competition trouble for football rulesMost professional football transfers happen when a player is free to leave because their contract expires, or when current club, player, and new club come to a mutual transfer agreement. But the world is not perfect. Situations arise where a player does not live up to expectations or does not feature in the manager’s plans.…
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The ACM’s mission to plug the “small acquisitions gap”
Continue reading: The ACM’s mission to plug the “small acquisitions gap”In line with recent developments in other countries, the ACM’s chairman Martijn Snoep has expressed a desire for new competences to review relatively small mergers (in size) that fall below the notification thresholds of the Dutch Competition Act (DCA).[1] In the ACM’s view, mergers that fall below these thresholds can nonetheless cause competition problems. In…
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Royal Antwerp – Breaking new ground in antitrust in labour markets
Continue reading: Royal Antwerp – Breaking new ground in antitrust in labour marketsTo ensure a steady supply of football talent, professional football clubs must do their bit to invest in grassroots football. To incentivise this investment, UEFA and several national football associations introduced “home-grown player rules”, which dictate that a minimum number of players on the match sheet must be home-grown. However, a player, supported by Royal…
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The evolving framework for litigation funding: PACCAR, the DMCC Bill, the CAT…and Mr Bates!
Continue reading: The evolving framework for litigation funding: PACCAR, the DMCC Bill, the CAT…and Mr Bates!Competition law infringements often cause financial harm to large groups of consumers or businesses, who would individually be unwilling or unable to pay to claim compensation for that harm. This is why such groups often make use of third-party funding, known as litigation funding, which is offered by specialised investment funds who pay for the…
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Super League – From “legislative bomb” to judicial bombshell
Continue reading: Super League – From “legislative bomb” to judicial bombshellCompetition law in sports is full of interesting paradoxes. When I was at the Competition and Markets Authority, the news around the creation of the Super League broke, and many stakeholders contacted us because, they said, surely this is a cartel between the participating teams. Of course there was a question then about whether competition…
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CAT’s Liothyronine judgment is notable beyond excessive pricing cases
Continue reading: CAT’s Liothyronine judgment is notable beyond excessive pricing casesLast week’s Liothyronine judgment in the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) is essential reading for antitrust practitioners. The CAT upheld the CMA finding of an abuse of dominance but reduced the total fine from £101m to £84m. Liothyronine is one of several excessive pricing cases the CMA has brought in recent years following concerns about…
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Draconian but unavoidable? Illumina’s quest for GRAIL ends in a record fine
Continue reading: Draconian but unavoidable? Illumina’s quest for GRAIL ends in a record fineSprint races can be decided by hundredths of a second. But the sprinter who pushes off before the starting gun sounds “jumps the gun” and faces harsh punishment. In our never-ending attempts to make competition law sound cool, practitioners refer to the completion of a deal before mandatory clearance is obtained as “gun jumping”, even…