EU Court Rules Against International Skating Union's Competition Restrictions

The court upholds that the ISU's regulations, penalizing athletes for participating in non-recognized events, violate EU competition law and unfairly impact athletes, consumers, and broadcast audiences.

• The European Court of Justice has ruled that International Skating Union (ISU) regulations, which penalize athletes for participating in non-recognized events, violate EU competition law.
• The case originated from a complaint by Dutch speed skaters Mark Tuitert and Niels Kerstholt, who were threatened with a ban for wanting to participate in the Icederby, a new South Korean competition.
• The Icederby, which offered a prize money of $2 million, never took place due to a lack of competitors.
• The European Commission had previously ruled in December 2017 that the ISU regulations restricted competition and served to protect ISU's commercial interests.
• The Court of Justice stated that the ISU rules were not transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate, giving the ISU an unfair advantage over its competitors and negatively impacting athletes, consumers, and broadcast audiences.

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