CASE NO: 73/2011
AUTHORITY: Competition Commission of India
CORAM:
- Mr. Ashok Chawla, Mr. H C Gupta, Mr. R Prasad, Dr. Geeta Gouri,
- Mr.Anurag Goel, Mr. Justice (Retd.) S N Dhingra
FACTS:
There was an announcement of World Series Hockey after which Nimbus Sport, who were the organizers started negotiating with players to sign them up for the league. Hockey India adopted the “FIH” Regulations on Sanctioned and Unsanctioned events and accordingly modified its Code of Conduct Agreement with clauses relating to disciplinary action in case of participation in any unsanctioned events. Hockey India also announced plans for starting their own professional hockey league along the lines of the proposed WSH. Just before the start of WSH, the informants filed before the CCI in November, 2015 inquiring into alleged anti-competitive activities of Hockey India.
ISSUE:
Whether there was a contravention of s3(4) & s4(2)(c) of Competition Act, 2002 by Hockey India
SUBMISSIONS BY INFORMANTS
- That HI was misusing its regulatory powers to promote its own hockey BY engaging in practices resulting in denial of market access to rivals, which was an abuse of dominant position under S. 4(2)(c) of the Act.
- That the CoC Agreement was an anti-competitive agreement under S. 3(4) of the Act.
SUBMISSIONS BY HOCKEY INDIA:
- That HI did not provide any product or service as defined in the Act and hockey players cannot be considered as consumers and hence no relevant market could be identified.
- HI contended that it was working under the pyramid structure for governing international sports ensuring integrity of sports
ORDER OF COMMISSION:
The CCI absolved Hockey India from all the allegations entering into anti-competitive agreements and abusing dominant position. It held that there was no contravention of provisions of the Competition Act by the HI however CCI set out a possibility of conflict of interest between the ‘regulatory’ and ‘organising of events’ roles of HI. Hockey India was directed to put in place an effective internal control system to ensure that its regulatory powers are not used in any way in the process of considering and deciding on any matters relating to its commercial or economic activities. It also recommended the establishment of a streamlined and transparent system of issuing NOCs to the players for participating in events organized by foreign associations.
