The Bolivian Football Federation (FBF) has cancelled its broadcast rights tender for club competitions, with a new process expected to be drawn up.
The FBF executive committee has formally ended the tender after the Primera Divisíon’s 14 clubs unanimously decided to take this step during a meeting held on June 5.
Rolando Aramayo, director of the executive committee, told the Página Siete newspaper that another meeting will be held next week to discuss the launch of another tender.
The FBF is said to have targeted between $40m (€35.6m) to $45m from a new four-year contract.
Four of Bolivia’s leading football clubs last month signalled their intention not to participate in the tender process planned by the FBF. Primera Divisíon teams Bolívar, Wilstermann, Blooming and Oriente Petrolero have been looking at selling their own rights instead.
The 14 clubs that make up the Primera Divisíon have been considering a 10-year offer from Bolívar president Marcelo Claure worth a possible $100m, but failed to reach a consensus that would have ended the tender.
Claure’s offer would cover a 10-season period running between 2021 and 2030 which is more than double the four-year length that the FBF was advertising. Aside from the four clubs, there was said to be another group, including Guabirá and Royal Pari, who back Claure’s proposal.
These six teams are still said to be behind Claure’s offer, with Página Siete stating this stance could impact any tender launched by the FBF with broadcasters only interested in a rights package including all 14 clubs.
The Primera Divisíon rights are currently held by the Sport TV Rights agency in a deal worth $4.1m and which expires at the end of this season.
The FBF has reclaimed control over the División Profesional rights from 2021 onwards. The rights reclamation stripped the league’s 14 clubs of negotiating their own broadcast rights in favour of placing the collective negotiating power with the FBF.