December 5 – Spanish TV group Mediapro are taking UEFA to court for allegedly altering submission bids for the Champions League for 2021-2024 in favour of France’s Canal Plus and Middle East broadcasting giant beIN Sports.
Mediapro argues that UEFA put pressure on beIN and Canal Plus to improve their offers to the detriment of the Spanish company.
Late last month it was confirmed that BeIN Sports had secured the bulk of rights to European football’s elite club competition between 2021 and 2024, exclusively bagging 104 of the 138 live games. The remaining 35 fixtures were picked up Canal+.
According to Bloomberg, BeIN and Canal+ will pay €375 million a year to show the tournament, but Jaume Roures, president of Mediapro, has questioned the legitimacy of the bidding.
He conceded that the reported €375 million offer was a “bit higher” than Mediapro’s, but vented his frustration at UEFA’s inability to update them on the deal’s progress.
“After having submitted the offer in the second round, nobody told us anything – why? It’s not normal. The logic would have been to call us and to try to raise the price as our offer was close,” he said. “This is the logic of any negotiation.”
“We are going to sue UEFA, in Switzerland, to request access to the tender documentation the first and second rounds (of bidding),” he said.
“We want the bids submitted by each to be made public. Auctions have been organised. There have been discussions for Canal + and beIN Sports to agree while our offer was better.”
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