
The Lithuanian competition authority Konkurencijos taryba found that the Lithuanian Basketball League (Lietuvos krepšinio lyga – LKL) and 10 basketball clubs concluded an anti-competitive agreement when they decided not to pay basketball players salaries or other financial remuneration for the rest of the season after the termination of the basketball championship 2019–2020 due to the pandemic. The infringement of the Law on Competition and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union resulted in fines ranging from Eur 1,070 to EUR 16,510.
The authority launched the investigation into a suspected anti-competitive agreement in April 2020, after evaluating public discussions on the exchange of the terms of payment relating to basketball players‘ salaries, which were held between the LKL and basketball clubs.
Konkurencijos taryba found that during the extraordinary meeting of the board, which took place on 13 March 2020, the LKL and 10 basketball clubs decided to terminate the 2019–2020 championship due to the coronavirus pandemic, applying the force majeure clause, and agreed not to pay salaries and remuneration for basketball players for the rest of the championship, starting from 13 March 2020.
The conclusion of the anti-competitive agreement was also evidenced by e-mail correspondence between the representatives of the clubs, which contained negative reactions to some of the clubs that deviated from the agreement to pay salaries to basketball players only until 13 March.
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
UK Business Secretary Calls for More Agile Competition Regulator
Feb 13, 2025 by
CPI
Germany’s Antitrust Regulator Raises Concerns Over Apple’s App Tracking Policies
Feb 13, 2025 by
CPI
$60 Billion Nissan-Honda Merger Falls Apart
Feb 13, 2025 by
CPI
DOJ Moves to End Protections for Three Regulatory Agencies
Feb 13, 2025 by
CPI
Meta to Allow Rivals to List Ads on Facebook Marketplace Following EU Fine
Feb 13, 2025 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – International Criminal Enforcement
Jan 23, 2025 by
CPI
The Antitrust Division’s Recent Work to Combat International Cartels
Jan 23, 2025 by
Emma Burnham & Benjamin Christenson
Information Sharing: The New Frontier of U.S. Antitrust Enforcement
Jan 23, 2025 by
Brian P. Quinn, Casey Kovarik & Michael Tubach
The Key Role of Guidelines on Exchanges of Information Among Competitors and the Divergent Transatlantic Paths
Jan 23, 2025 by
Rosa Abrantes-Metz & Albert Metz
Leniency, Whistleblowers, and Compliance
Jan 23, 2025 by
Richard Powers, Tara O’Malley & Cory Gordon