The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA), in an official statement released Tuesday, said that the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) opened an investigation into the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) for not terrestrially broadcasting the World Cup’s matches that will kick off on Thursday in Russia.
The ECA explained that based on the cooperation agreement between the ECA and the COMESA Competition Commission, there is evidence that there were violations of the Egyptian Competition Protection Law and the Competition Regulations of COMESA.
It added that the ECA is sharing its data with the COMESA, which, in turn, examined it to review the violations of the FIFA against the COMESA. On the basis of the examination, the COMESA opened an investigation against the FIFA in relation to monopolistic practices and requested data and information on the matter.
The board of directors of the ECA on 10 June 2018 decried the FIFA’s decision to ban granting rights to broadcast 22 matches of the 2018 World Cup Russia and said the FIFA should grant the right of direct domestic broadcasting to the National Media Authority.
