MILAN: Italy’s anti-trust authority AGCM said on Tuesday it was investigating the sale of Serie A soccer rights to Sky Italia and Mediaset on suspicion the deal may have violated competition laws and excluded new entrants.
Italy’s soccer league awarded rights to broadcast matches of the eight main Italian teams in the three seasons to 2018 to Sky Italia, part of Sky Plc, and Mediaset in June following an auction that was delayed due to legal complaints by rivals.
The official outcome of the auction was tweaked in a deal that gave Sky Italia exclusive rights to broadcast matches of the other 12 teams in Serie A, a package that had initially been awarded to Mediaset.
Sky Italia declined to comment. Mediaset was not immediately available for comment after the anti-trust watchdog’s statement.
In a statement, AGCM said the investigation also involved the Italian soccer league and Infront, the Swiss-based agency that managed the auction process. It said the investigation will have to be completed by the end of April 2016.
The soccer league was not immediately available for comment. Infront said in a statement it was cooperating with AGCM.
As part of its investigation, AGCM said it searched the offices of the companies involved earlier on Tuesday, helped by the financial police.
Both Sky Italia and Mediaset already rights to air Serie A soccer matches in previous seasons. (Reporting by Emilio Parodi, Claudia Cristoferi, Elvira Pollina and Danilo Masoni; Writing by Danilo Masoni; Editing by David Holmes and David Clarke)
Dozens arrested in Italian match-fixing probe
Fifty people have been arrested and 70 questioned in a nationwide swoop over suspected match-fixing in the third, fourth and fifth tiers of Italian football, the ANSA news agency reported on Tuesday.
Those arrested included players and directors from around 30 clubs who were under suspicion of “conspiracy to commit sporting fraud,” the report said.
The operation, which according to Gazzetta dello Sport is code-named “Dirty Soccer,” is being co-ordinated by prosecutors in the southern town of Catanzaro.
There was no mention of whether the allegations were connected with the Calcioscommesse match-fixing scandal which involved attempts to manipulate matches in Serie B and the third and fourth tier Lega Pro during the 2010-11 season.
Italy investigates sale of soccer rights to Sky, Mediaset
