Firm says it abused market position

China's industry and commerce authority announced on Friday it has halted an anti-monopoly probe into the official FIFA 2014 World Cup ticketing agency in China after the company admitted to abusing its market dominance.

The Shankai Sports International was found to have coupled the sale of World Cup tickets with the sale of hotel, transportation and tourism services in Brazil in an expensive package, according to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

The company later admitted that its actions violated China's anti-monopoly law and said it has taken remedial measures, which halted the probe, the authority said.

The authority added that it could punish the company if it fails to make good on its promises.

Shankai has been the sole proprietor for the hospitality package deals - which includes individual tickets to matches, food and beverages, multilingual hostesses and parking for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil - to customers on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao.

The company obtained the rights from Switzerland-based MATCH Services AG, which was appointed by the International Federation of Association Football, or FIFA, to provide ticketing, accommodation and event information technology services for the World Cup.

According to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, Shankai signed an agreement with Beijing China Travel Service Co in March 2011 to share agency rights in China. Shankai would provide hospitality deals and the travel service company would help arrange the hotel, transportation and tourism services.

The company then started selling the World Cup hospitality package deals with the tourism, hotel and transportation services. It has sold 390 such deals as of March.

"Even though the party involved also sold 54 hospitality package deals without other services, it failed to inform the consumers clearly that they could purchase the hospitality package deals independently," the authority said in a statement. "Company staff even told consumers that the hospitality package deals could not be purchased independently."

Shankai's Beijing office said its spokesperson could not be reached on Friday. E-mailed questions to a media officer with MATCH Services AG went unanswered.

Beijing China Travel Service Co Ltd was still offering a number of tourism package services that include tickets to World Cup matches and tours of scenic spots in Brazil on its websites as of Friday.

A salesperson who refused to be identified said that the tour agency has access to tickets to the World Cup but refused to provide the source of the tickets.

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn