Ping Europe has been fined £1.45 million (€1.7m-$1.9m) by the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for preventing two British retailers from selling its golf clubs on their websites. The CMA has required Ping to stop the ban and to avoid any equivalent ban on other retailers. According to the authority, Ping may require retailers to meet certain conditions before selling its products online, but these conditions must be compatible with competition law. Ping could have achieved its genuine commercial aim through less restrictive means, the authority said. In response to CMA's announced decision, Ping has released a statement expressing profound disagreement with it. In its statement, the company says that its Internet Policy is in fact “an important procompetitive aspect” of its commitment to custom fitting. According to Ping, consumers should be custom fitted in person by a trained Ping fitter before purchasing Ping golf clubs, something that cannot be done online. Ping will be appealing the decision to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), hoping this judicial body will recognize its Internet Policy is appropriate and justified.

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