Brazilian media group Globo has been ordered to pay costs totalling R$177,400 ($34,500/€30,500) to the Brazilian Confederation of Water Sports (CBDA) as the payment dispute between the two parties intensified.
The payment go to cover the salaries of CBDA employees and was granted earlier this week, reports Brazilian sports news portal UOL.
Globo and the CBDA have been at loggerheads since the broadcaster informed the rights-holder that it would be withholding payment while the impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic was felt.
The injunction was granted by Rio’s Labour Court following action taken by a body representing employees of sports clubs, federations and professional athletes in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The CBDA was named as the claimant.
The CBDA is reported to have failed to pay salaries in March and April because it did not receive broadcast rights fees from Globo.
Globo and the CBDA have had a rights agreement in place since 2009 with its current deal expiring at the end of 2020.
The deal is valued at around R$260,000 per month, according to UOL, and Globo is said to have continued to pay this sum despite not having broadcast any CBDA events over the past two years.
Globo has reduced or frozen a number of rights fee agreements in Brazil since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among those, the most high-profile reductions have come in the Campeonato Brasileiro Sèrie A. The clubs accepted Globo’s proposal to reduce their free-to-air and pay-television rights by 60 per cent for March and April, with a 70-per-cent reduction in place for May and June.
A further agreement for the pay-per-view rights was reached at a later stage.