Spain: Ban on TPOs in Spanish League “will harm consumers”

Spain’s National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has released a report on the recent proposal to ban trust funds from holding future rights to Footballers’ economic earnings, known in the financial world as Third Party Ownership (TPO.) The move, said the regulator “would violate constitutional principles of free enterprise, community and the free circulation of capital and labor”.

Spain’s authorities maintain that trust funds would have a “minor incentive” to affect free competition, as “their business model is diverse and held under strict regulation for transparency and good governance”. The commission urged FIFA and Spain’s Royal Football Federation (RFEF) to “consider less disrupting alternatives” to the ban.

Thus, the CNMC closes its report by calling it “harmful for football, both for the game itself as for the clubs and professional players” clarifying that adopting the ban would cause a “lower rate of remuneration and talent creation” which in turn “will lower competition and quality in the sector, ultimately harming the wellbeing of consumers.”

Source: Expansión

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