Elite Pro Basketball Private Limited Vs Basketball Federation of India (Competition Commission of India)
The Information was filed by Elite Pro Basketball Private Limited (the Informant) before the Competition Commission of India (CCI) under Section 19(1)(a) of the Competition Act, alleging that the Basketball Federation of India (BFI) violated Sections 3 and 4 of the Act. The Informant, engaged in promoting basketball, planned to launch the Elite Pro Basketball League (EPBL) with 16 franchise teams and signed about 160 players. It communicated with BFI beginning January 2022 seeking approval for the league, but received no response despite multiple letters. After initial player try-outs, a BFI official publicly stated that no approach had been made, prompting further correspondence from the Informant that also went unanswered.
Further try-outs scheduled for October 2022 at Sathyabama University were stopped after the Vice-President of BFI, who was also President of the Tamil Nadu Basketball Association (TNBA), allegedly threatened the venue with consequences if it permitted the event. The Informant shifted to a different venue. The Informant also reported that BFI made it mandatory for players at the 72nd Senior National Basketball Championship to declare that they were not associated with any unauthorized leagues, and teams could face disqualification if such declarations were false.
