⁍ ULEB, a grouping of 11 major basketball leagues in Europe, has asked EU antitrust enforcers to act against organiser Euroleague Commercial Assets.
⁍ ECA is owned by 11 major basketball clubs while its subsidiary Euroleague Basketball runs the top two continental men’s club basketball competitions, EuroLeague and EuroCup.
⁍ The Commission confirmed receipt of the complaint, saying it would assess it.
– A group of 11 major basketball leagues in Europe has filed a complaint with the EU alleging that the organizer of the continent’s top club basketball competition is blocking other teams from taking part, Reuters reports. Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA) is owned by 11 major basketball clubs, while its subsidiary Euroleague Basketball runs the top two continental men’s club basketball competitions, EuroLeague and EuroCup. “We believe that all of our clubs must be able to compete at the highest level and we want to keep the dream of international basketball alive for every club at every level,” said ULEB’s president. The alleged anti-competitive behavior includes EuroLeague granting 10-year licenses to the 11 shareholder clubs without any transparent award process and reducing the number of available slots in the competition to just 18 from 24, ULEB said. The Commission confirmed receipt of the complaint, saying it would assess it. ECA declined to comment. ‘We don’t have any comment on that we are focused on the current season and besides the public announcement that ULEB launched we haven’t received any other communication so far,’ said a spokesman.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-antitrust-basketball/rival-basketball-body-wants-eu-antitrust-action-against-euroleague-organiser-idUSKBN26N2PL