Competition Law and Sports in Japan: A New Olympic Legacy?

Given the increasing number of self-employed workers, recently the Japanese competition authority has been more and more engaged in human resources markets. In terms of sports, regulations on player transfers between teams invite close scrutiny. Based on its fact-finding survey, the Japan Fair Trade Commission published its guidance on the matter. The guidance clarifies that a non-hardcore cartel approach is applied to the transfer regulations; and sets out a basic framework to evaluate whether