The South American League of Clubs organisation has said it is prepared to boycott the Copa Libertadores competition if it fails to reach an agreement with the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) over the distribution of broadcast revenues for its tournaments.
The South American League of Clubs was formed earlier this month following a meeting of teams from Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay in Montevideo.
In November, international pay-television broadcaster Fox International Channels acquired rights for a series of tournaments operated by Conmebol. The rights will run for three years, from 2016 to 2018.
Under the deal, the Fox Sports channel will continue to broadcast live and exclusive coverage of the Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana and Recopa Sudamericana competitions in Latin America. Fox Sports will exploit the multi-platform rights on Fox Sports, Fox Sports 2 and digital platform Fox Play.
The clubs are currently set to receive an increase of 40 per cent of revenue from the rights to the Copa Libertadores that starts next month, while Conmebol should see an increase in excess of 250 per cent.
A meeting between Conmebol’s Executive Committee and the clubs in the Paraguayan capital of Ascuncion yesterday (Monday) failed to reach an agreement. The two sides are set to meet again on Thursday but Marco Trovato, president of Paraguay’s Olimpia, has said the clubs will take action if a resolution is not reached. Trovato told the Bloomberg news agency: “We have a deadline of February 3. If they won’t give us the new prices, we won’t play the Copa Libertadores.”
Trovato added: “Right now they are giving 40 per cent, but they have to bring that money up to 150 per cent because they don’t need that extra money.”
Daniel Angelici, president of Argentina’s Boca Juniors, said: “This money is for the work of the clubs – we need to be able to retain our players.”