Polish competition watchdog sues UEFA

WARSAW Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has filed a lawsuit with a special consumer rights court in Warsaw against UEFA over rules governing the sale of tickets for the European football championships Euro 2012 to be held in Poland and Ukraine this summer, the office’s spokeswoman Malgorzata Cieloch said on Monday.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

WARSAW Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has filed a lawsuit with a special consumer rights court in Warsaw against UEFA over rules governing the sale of tickets for the European football championships Euro 2012 to be held in Poland and Ukraine this summer, the office’s spokeswoman Malgorzata Cieloch said on Monday.The Polish regulator was particularly concerned that the European football governing body "declined in an arbitrary fashion its responsibility for delays in the delivery of tickets” for Euro 2012, Cieloch said.European soccer’s governing body and the Polish football association held a lottery in the country last year to allocate tickets for the June 8 to July 1 tournament, co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine.The Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has questioned 25 UEFA rules, including those that say UEFA takes no responsibility for delays in the delivery of tickets.The regulator also criticized UEFA for refusing to "replace a ticket in the event of loss or theft” and objected to UEFA having given itself the right unilaterally to change the date, time and location of a match due to "unforeseen circumstances”, without providing a reason as required by Polish law.