French competition authority Autorité de la concurrence has imposed an administrative fine against Espace Foot for imposing on its franchisees the retail prices.
Espace Foot is a network of franchises specialising in the world of football. The shops sell boots, and the official jerseys of major football clubs, as well as clothing, balls and other equipment, mainly from Adidas, Nike and Puma. The Autorité determined that in its franchise agreements, Espace Foot had introduced contractual clauses requiring franchisees to comply with the pricing policy it defined. Espace foot did not contest the Autorité’s determinations and applied to the authority to benefit from the settlement procedure and Autorité granted this request.
Consequently, Autorité decided to impose 25.000 Euro fine against Espace Foot considering the limited market impact of the infringement and the settlement procedure.
(Autorité de la concurrence decision – 12.10.2021)
NAZALI TAX & LEGAL