Examination of Witnesses (Questions 160-164)
MR SHAUN
WOODWARD MP, MARGARET
HODGE MBE MP AND
MR JOHN
FINGLETON
26 JUNE 2007
Q160 Paul Farrelly: It is a question
to Mr Fingleton again. I take it from Margaret's and Shaun's answers
that the answer to the previous question is that the protection
for the Olympics is a bit over the top and not necessarily that
worthwhile but we had to go along with it?
Mr Woodward: No it is not, and
that is absolute nonsense, Paul, and it would be a travesty to
suggest that is what I thought. The whole debate about the Olympics
and access to the Olympics was actually had when we were pushing
the legislation through, if you remember, and it also brought
up the question of why that should not be extended to other sporting
events. The fact of the matter is that demand for tickets for
Olympic events is going to be absolutely huge. One of the reasons
the Olympic Committee have it there as something that if you want
to hold the Olympics you have to do is that it is absolutely ripe
for gross exploitation by a secondary market, and therefore to
ensure fair access both to the Member State that may be holding
the event but also to the international stage and people who will
want to come to come to it, you do need very, very careful control
of the tickets. It also relates to the control of the brand as
well. That does not, by and large, apply to most sporting football
matches. There is not demand of that kind of order. It is a perfectly
legitimate debate to have but to confuse a Premier League football
match, say, with the Olympics for 2012 and the opportunities for
organised, unauthorised selling on a massive scale and exploitation
of the brand which could well bring the Olympics themselves into
major disrepute has to be understood as being quite different.
Q161 Paul Farrelly: Just as a final
comment, I am not confusing anything at all. I look forward to
the Rugby World Cup, some of the matches of which will be played
in Wales or Scotland for which there will be a great demand because
it is a prestige event.
Mr Woodward: There will be but
I think it is important to understand that the Olympic brand and
the Olympics themselves, when you have got six years for organised,
unauthorised selling to take place on an absolutely major international
scale, I think the Olympic Committee is absolutely right to impose
those conditions. I do not think it necessarily follows that because
it is done for the Olympics that it ought to be done for all major
sporting fixtures as well because ironically we could end up in
a position which does not actually help the 90% of consumers of
football or rugby matches for whom there is no evidence there
is a problem, and we could seriously damage that market, and I
do not think anybody in this Committee or indeed in Government
or any political party wants to do that. We are all trying to
improve the situation.
Q162 Paul Farrelly: Okay, Shaun,
you have had the last word on that. Mr Fingleton, can you understand
dissatisfaction in the industry and here, just picking up on your
previous answer to me, because in some instances you make great
play that you will pick out cases and litigate for consumer protection
but in certain circumstances where there is a lack of clarity
you say "Let the courts decide" and do not actually
get involved be it in this industry or with the example that I
used previously in the banking industry where judges are screaming
for a test case to be heard and taken up?
Mr Fingleton: Is this a question
about banking or about this?
Q163 Paul Farrelly: It is about your
prevarication.
Mr Fingleton: I do not think we
are prevaricating. We bring court cases in many instances. We
work in other cases to get the voluntary agreement of the industry
and we use other instruments like market studies where we believe
they best serve the consumers' interests. Overall the OFT represents
consumer interests based on the evidence that we have before us
to the best of our ability and we have to prioritise the enforcement
actions we bring in that context.
Q164 Paul Farrelly: Its record in
my experience over many years has not been effective and that
is shared outside.
Mr Fingleton: I beg to differ,
I think we produce really excellent results for consumers across
a whole range of areas.
Chairman: This has gone on slightly longer
than we intended but it has been very helpful. Thank you very
much.
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