Svenska Hockeyligan AB (Hockeyligan), is a league association affiliating the clubs competing in Sweden’s elite ice hockey league. In anticipation of the NHL lock-out, Hockeyligan’s board, consisting of representatives from the 12 clubs, decided on 21 August 2012 that no club would engage locked-out players on short-term contracts while the NHL conflict was ongoing.

Following news reports of Hockeyligan’s decision, the SCA opened a formal investigation into the conduct on 6 September 2012, issuing a request for information to Hockeyligan.

On 20 September 2012 the SCA made an interim order on the matter. The SCA considered there was a prima facie case that Hockeyligan’s decision amounts to an infringement of Article 101 TFEU and its equivalent in the Swedish Competition Act. The clubs are undertakings for the purposes of competition law. Hockeyligan’s decision limits the clubs’ upstream investments (in ice hockey players) and, consequently, their output in the downstream markets where they are competitors.

Since the Swedish league season started on 13 September 2012, the SCA considered that the agreement was already producing effects harmful to competition and consumers; effects which could not be remedied if the agreement had been allowed to stand pending the SCA’s investigation. The SCA therefore ordered Hockeyligan not to implement its decision while the SCA’s investigation is ongoing, or face a penalty of SEK 20 million (ca. € 2.3 million).

Hockeyligan has appealed SCA’s interim order to the Swedish Market Court. A decision is expected in December 2012. Meanwhile, the SCA’s investigation into the alleged infringement continues.