The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industryis confident that the EC will rule that sports organizations whoset standards cannot tie those rules to a royalty program, suchas the one instituted by FIFA in soccer balls. The EC examinerhas sent recommendations to the EC anti-trust authorities anda final decision is expected before the end of the month.

As it stands now, FIFA has a royalty-free programthat allows ball-makers to say they have complied with InternationalMatchball Standards. If the WFSGI wins its argument, they willbe able to say that they comply with FIFA standards, althoughthey would not be able to use neither ... Log in to view full article.