Cade fines Libra for gun jumping, approves deal with FFU | OneFootball

In a judgment session held this Wednesday, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) reached an agreement in an investigation of a concentration act (APAC) with the Liga do Futebol Brasileiro (Libra) and Futebol Forte União do Futebol Brasileiro (FFU, formerly LFU). In Libra’s case, the authority recognized the practice of “gun jumping” and imposed a fine of R$ 559,000, while FFU reached the agreement without penalty.

Cade determined that the organizations operate as a joint venture, which is essentially a business partnership between clubs to jointly run a business. When this type of operation meets certain revenue criteria, it is mandatory to notify Cade before putting the operation into practice. Implementing the operation before Cade’s review and approval, when notification is required, constitutes what is known as gun jumping.

According to the investigations, Libra began its activities without the required prior notification, while FFU committed no infraction, as it did not meet the revenue criteria that would make notification mandatory.

According to the terms of the agreements, Libra and FFU will have up to 60 days to officially inform Cade of all concentration acts that have already been carried out. Only after this stage will the authority begin to analyze the content of the operations, checking for competition risks, the benefits the leagues claim to generate, and whether adjustments to the adopted model will be necessary. Both entities also committed to informing Cade, for the next three years, of any changes in the structure used to collectively negotiate broadcasting rights.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.