The Argentinian Football Association has reportedly rejected a request from intellectual asset management company Consor to extend the deadline for submitting a bid for the next set of rights to the domestic game, while US media companies Fox and Turner are said to be seeking clarification over certain parts of the process.
Bids under a new broadcast rights tender are set to be opened and analysed on Monday. Consor last month emerged as a surprise contender for the rights after submitting an offer that is reportedly higher than those of its rivals.
Consor is said to have put forward an offer worth 5.4 billion pesos (€315.5m/$338.8m), while international sports broadcaster ESPN is offering 3.2 billion pesos and a joint proposal from Fox and Turner is valued at three billion pesos.
The Telam news agency said Consor’s request for a 10-day extension to the deadline for submitting official bids has been rejected, with the original timeline remaining intact. This will see envelopes opened on Monday with bids to be analysed at a meeting on February 24.
Meanwhile, the El Cronista newspaper said Fox and Turner have sent a four-page document to the AFA seeking clarification on certain points before they can formalise an offer. These points are said to include clarification on international rights to Argentinian football, which the Torneos agency currently holds under a contract running through to December 2019.
In addition, Fox and Turner are said to be seeking to understand how the AFA arrived at a base value of three billion pesos per year for the rights, a figure that implies an increase of 80 per cent compared to the 1.661 billion pesos that was collected under the Fútbol para Todos scheme last year.