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Italy makes moves for equal TV money distribution among clubs
Italy - 25 July, 2006
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Italy's government proposed new legislation Friday that would distribute football television money more evenly between clubs.
The government presented a bill to return to a system under which TV firms must divide payment more equally between clubs for the right to transmit matches, instead of doing separate deals with each club as in recent years.
Criticism of the system intensified since the match-fixing scandal erupted this spring. Critics say the current system creates an elite group of increasingly rich top clubs at the expense of the rest.
The new bill stipulates at least half of the money paid by media firms for the TV rights should be distributed equally between professional clubs, Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri told reporters after cabinet met to draft the bill.
The remaining money would go to a body representing the various divisions. This would be responsible for distributing it according to criteria such as the financial value of the clubs and the number of their supporters.
The rules would take effect for all sporting competitions beginning from July 1, 2007.
Special rules will be drawn up for a transition period to safeguard the rights of companies, such as Mediaset, which have already bought TV rights beyond July 1, 2007.
Mediaset, Italy's biggest private broadcaster, is owned by the family of opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi.
The bill also stipulates that companies cannot buy TV rights and then re-sell them to firms which transmit on different types of platforms.
"We want to prevent ... people being able to buy the rights, perhaps up to 2015, and then re-sell them at exorbitant prices," said Telecommunications Minister Paolo Gentiloni.
The government presented a bill to return to a system under which TV firms must divide payment more equally between clubs for the right to transmit matches, instead of doing separate deals with each club as in recent years.
Criticism of the system intensified since the match-fixing scandal erupted this spring. Critics say the current system creates an elite group of increasingly rich top clubs at the expense of the rest.
The new bill stipulates at least half of the money paid by media firms for the TV rights should be distributed equally between professional clubs, Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri told reporters after cabinet met to draft the bill.
The remaining money would go to a body representing the various divisions. This would be responsible for distributing it according to criteria such as the financial value of the clubs and the number of their supporters.
The rules would take effect for all sporting competitions beginning from July 1, 2007.
Special rules will be drawn up for a transition period to safeguard the rights of companies, such as Mediaset, which have already bought TV rights beyond July 1, 2007.
Mediaset, Italy's biggest private broadcaster, is owned by the family of opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi.
The bill also stipulates that companies cannot buy TV rights and then re-sell them to firms which transmit on different types of platforms.
"We want to prevent ... people being able to buy the rights, perhaps up to 2015, and then re-sell them at exorbitant prices," said Telecommunications Minister Paolo Gentiloni.
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