Noel Munzabwa in MBABANE, Swaziland
COMESA have launched investigations into how the CAF leadership signed a 20-year-long Marketing and Broadcasting deal.

In a notice released last week, the regional trade block is looking into possible alleged breach of fair competitions practices.

CAF entered into an agreement with Lagardère Sports on June 12, 2015 for the exclusive commercialisation of marketing and media rights of main regional football competitions in Africa, including the Africa Cup of Nations, the African Nations Championship and the African Champions League, for the period from 2017 to 2028.

The CAF and Lagardère Sports are alleged to have previously entered into a similar commercialisation agreement for marketing and media rights of CAF tournaments from 2009 to 2016.

Consecutively and cumulatively, the length of the alleged exclusive agreement is 20 years.

Therefore, the COMESA Competition Commission believes that the aforementioned parties have violated monopoly practices that limit the freedom of competition in the COMESA joint market.

The commission will, in accordance with the provisions of Part 3 of the regulations, conduct an inquiry into the agreements concluded between CAF and Lagardère Sports in order to determine whether the alleged conduct has as its objective or effect the prevention, restriction, or distortion of competitions in the common market or in a substantial part of it.

The Egyptian Competition Authority have welcomed the COMESA decision to open an investigation.

The ECA decided in January to refer the president of the CAF, Issa Hayatou, and the general-secretary of CAF, Hesham El Omrani, to the general prosecution after it claimed to have proven that Hayatou violated the Protection of Competition Act.

COMESA is an economic block with the following members — Burundi , Comoros, DRC, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan , Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

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