The British Office of Fair Trading has announced that it is dropping its investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices among sports retailers. In September 2009, the OFT started the probe when JJB Sports accused Sports Direct of taking part in an agreement to tamp down competition in the sports retail segment. Sports Direct has welcomed the announcement of the end of the investigation, but the OFT says that it will make a final decision later this year, and the provisional decision should not be taken as a statement of whether the law was broken. It also has no effect on the investigations being conducted by the Serious Fraud Office into unnamed individuals, after deciding not to bring charges against either company.

Topics