The COMESA Competition Appeals Board upholds commitments made by football association which the undertaking made to remedy concerns over long-term exclusivity obligations for marketing and media rights (Confédération Africaine de Football / Sportfive)

On 16 January 2023, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (the “COMESA” or the “Common Market”) Competition Appeals Board (the “Appeals Board”) published its seminal decision upholding the commitments provided by the Confédération Africaine de Football (the “CAF”) in relation to contracts for the commercialization of CAF’s media and marketing rights (the “Intermediation Agreements”) with Sportfive EMEA (“Sportfive”), thus putting an end to a five-year legal battle. [1] The decision, which is the first rendered by the Appeals Board in matters of sports media and marketing rights and the functioning of the COMESA Competition Commission (the “Commission”) and its relation to other COMESA competition adjudicative bodies, sets several ground-breaking precedents that will guide the