DG COMP

DG COMP (Directorate-General for Competition) is the European Commission's body responsible for enforcing EU competition law, including Article 101 TFEU (cartels), Article 102 TFEU (abuse of dominance), and merger review. Under Commissioner Teresa Ribera since late 2024, it is the world's most active competition authority by caseload and fine volume. Its REMIT covers any entity that trades in or affects the EU single market, regardless of headquarters location.

On 24 March 2026, Football Supporters Europe and Euroconsumers filed an Article 102 TFEU complaint with DG COMP alleging FIFA holds a dominant market position in international football tournament access and abused it through: undisclosed premium seat tiers introduced mid-sale, a 163% price increase on comparable seats, and a ticket-resale restriction that deprived consumers of a secondary market remedy. The Commission's standard procedure requires a formal acknowledgment within 30 days — that Deadline passed on 23 April. By 11 May, DG COMP had issued no case number and no public statement, leaving the complaint in a procedural limbo 18 days past its own clock.

Twenty-four MEPs submitted written question E-001336/2026 asking whether DG COMP will prioritise the complaint before the tournament opens on 11 June. The market definition challenge is structural: the Commission has never formally established FIFA as dominant in a defined market, and doing so would require a preliminary investigation before any infringement notice — a multi-year process.