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| Tuesday, August 20, 2002 17:10 EST |
Season won't start till Sept. 15
[Reuters]
MILAN -- Italian clubs voted on Tuesday to
delay the start of the 2002-03 season by two weeks, the latest
upheaval in European soccer caused by rows over lucrative
television rights.
The Italian Football League voted to start the season on
September 15 rather than the planned date of September 1 as
eight of the smaller clubs from the top Serie A division were
still without pay-per-view television deals for next season.
"We have taken this decision to give strong political
support to the teams in Serie A and B still without pay-per-view
contracts," League president Adriano Galliani told a news
conference.
"Today is a good day for Italian football because we have
taken this decision in total unanimity and shown great unity,"
added Galliani, who is also vice-president of AC Milan.
Galliani said the delay would also give time to the eight
Serie A clubs to look into the possibility of developing their
own pay-per-view platform.
The season had been due to start on September 1 but no games
were scheduled for the following weekend as the Italian national
team is due to play Azerbaijan in a European Championship
qualifying match in Baku on September 8.
Italian soccer has been dogged with financial problems this
year, partly due to the waning of lucrative television deals.
Serie A teams Atalanta, Brescia, Chievo, Como, Empoli,
Modena, Perugia and Piacenza have not reached agreement with
either of Italy's two subscription satellite channels Telepiu
and Stream, forcing the decision to push back the start date.
The clubs are each demanding 10 million euros ($9.84
million) for the rights to live coverage of their home games
this season while the two pay-TV companies have offered only 4.5
million euros.
In Italy, clubs sign individual deals with television
companies, in contrast to many other countries, such as England,
where a collective deal is signed for the rights to a
championship.
The postponement could prove to be a handicap to Italian
teams competing in European competition as in September they
will face rivals who have already had several weeks of domestic
action under their belts.
But Galliani said the clubs involved in Europe had backed
the move and said he did not believe fans would pay a heavy
price for the delay.
"The damage for the public in the stadiums and television is
minimal this way because as far as Serie A is concerned they
only miss one round of games," Galliani said.
The league has also failed to reach agreement with state
broadcaster RAI over a fee for a free-to-air highlights package.
Telepiu and Stream stand to be merged under a plan by Rupert
Murdoch's News Corp to create a single pay-television company in
Italy, which analysts have said could mean an end to bidding
wars which pushed up the price of television rights for soccer
clubs in the past.
The collapse of TV rights has hit leagues across Europe,
with clubs in Germany's Bundesliga and England's first, second
and third divisions suffering a shortfall in income after the
demise of media giant Kirch and pay-TV channel ITV Digital.
A number of clubs are faced with possible bankruptcy and all
are tightening their belts by reducing their squads and cutting
costs, while the transfer market has slowed down considerably.
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