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The Commission has adopted a decision finding that the Comité Français d’Organisation de la Coupe du Monde de Football 1998 (CFO) has infringed Article 82 of the EC Treaty and Article 54 EEA by applying discriminatory arrangements in 1996 and 1997 relating to the sale to the general public of entry tickets for World Cup finals matches. Those arrangements involved the imposition of unfair trading conditions on consumers outside France which resulted in a limitation of the market to the prejudice of first consumers in relation to the sale of 393,200 tickets through Pass France 98 and 181,000 tickets relative to the opening match, quarter and semi-finals, for in fourth place play-off and the final.
The Commission imposed a fine on the CFO after considering that it was carrying out activities of an economic nature and as such it was considered as an undertaking for the purposes of Article 82. Indeed, it was responsible for the distribution of over 2.6 million match tickets of which approximately 1.55 million were sold to the general public.
The Commission stated that Article 82 can be applied not only where the structure of competition is affected, but also where the conduct concerned directly prejudices consumers.
Given the specific nature of the abuse at issue, the Commission imposed a relatively low fine of EUR 1,000. The Commission considered that the CFO was not, at the time, aware that its sales arrangements in 1996 and 1997 were in breach of Community law. Moreover, the Commission noted that the CFO had taken positive steps to the extent it considered it necessary to ensure that ticketing arrangements for the 1998 Football World Cup complied with Community and national law through formal and informal contacts with the Commission and competition authorities in France. It had also taken the decision to amend its sales arrangements in order to give consumers throughout the EEA the chance to reserve a 1,750,500 individual entry tickets directly from the CFO in 1998.
Recalling that fines vary in accordance with the gravity and duration of the infringement, the Commission noted that the fine arrived at in the present case does not represent a policy to be adopted in all future similar cases. (OJ L 5 of 8 January 2000).
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