In view of scandal, Mediaset wants to renegotiate Italian football rights

Italian broadcaster Mediaset wants to renegotiate its TV rights for top-flight football if the country's leading clubs are relegated because of the match-fixing scandal.

Mediaset acquired exclusive TV rights worth EUR 61.5 million a season last summer to broadcast Serie A for three years.

But the company said the TV rights would be worth less if top clubs Juventus, AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina are relegated. A Mediaset spokesman told Reuters the company had sent a letter to Lega Calcio asking for a meeting to renegotiate the value of the TV rights, which it wants to keep.

Mediaset has also suspended a July payment for the rights while it awaits the tribunal's rulings on the clubs involved.

Corriere della Sera daily said Lega Calcio wanted Mediaset to pay first and discuss later. Lega Calcio could not be reached for comment.

The tribunal's prosecutor, Stefano Palazzi, said Juventus be relegated to Serie C, the third division or lower, while AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina should go to Serie B.

Mediaset is Italy's largest privately owned broadcasting firm. It is controlled by the family of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who has been ordered to trial for fraud.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.