Inter, Milan, Rome, Lazio, Juventus, Cagliari, Genoa, Udinese, Atalanta are the 9 Serie A companies targeted by the Antitrust Authority which has initiated 9 investigative proceedings for "vexatious clauses in the contracts for the purchase of season tickets and match tickets ". In particular, these are clauses that would not recognize the right to obtain a refund of all or part of the season ticket or single ticket, in the event of the closure of the Stadium, postponement of the match and to obtain compensation for the fact of the club.
The ongoing investigation activity follows - as stated in a note from the Antitrust Authority - to the failure to accept the invitation addressed by the Authority to the nine companies on May 8, 2019, through a communication of moral suasion with which the clubs to take initiatives to remove the evidence just mentioned. Only the companies Bologna Football Club 1909 SpA and Parma Calcio 1913 Srl have responded positively to these requests. The latter - the Antitrust emphasizes - have "actually modified their general contract conditions, with the removal of the possible vexatiousness profiles found therein in the respective letters of moral suasion. For these two companies, the respective procedures have been archived.
Returning to the Antitrust procedure initiated towards the 9 Serie A companies entered in the Antitrust target, they will assess the harassment of some clauses contained in the general contract conditions relating to the purchase of the annual season ticket and the ticket for the single game.
Clauses that "would not recognize the right of consumers to obtain a refund of part of the season ticket or individual access ticket in the event of closure of the Stadium or part of it; they would not recognize the right of consumers to obtain a refund of the title of access for the individual tender in case of postponement of the event, both for facts attributable to the company, and when this circumstance leaves the responsibility of the latter; nor would they finally give the consumer the right to obtain compensation for the damage if such events are directly attributable to society. "
The Antitrust Authority will verify whether these clauses "excluding or limiting the liability of football clubs", and therefore introducing "a significant consumer imbalance in contractual services" are effectively "vexatious" clauses.