Germany: World Cup tickets probe settled by DFB, Bundeskartellamt

Germany’s competition watchdog closed its abuse of dominance investigation into the German Football Federation (DFB), based on what the authority’s president called a “good compromise” in the federation’s proposals to change its requirements on fans purchasing World Cup football tickets.
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The DFB had originally required that prospective buyers of tickets to Germany’s matches at the 2018 World Cup be registered fans, who, incidentally, pay a €40 annual membership fee. The Bundeskartellamt accepted the argument that having match attendees be registered at the DFB significantly strengthened safety controls. As a compromise, a special, temporary subscription costing €10 would be required to purchase tickets through the Federation..

Germany’s competition watchdog on Friday, November 2, said that the country’s soccer governing body will make changes to application policies for tickets to the German national team’s 2018 World Cup matches, The Bundeskartellamt agreed to end an administrative proceeding against the DFB — in exchange for the organization changing the way fans apply for tickets to the tournament, which will be held in Russia next summer.

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