Premier League delays rights sales process in Albania

The English Premier League, the top division of football in the country, has not launched a sales process yet for its next cycle of rights in Albania due to concerns about piracy problems in the country.

The league has concerns over the ability of local broadcasters to control the distribution of smart cards outside the territory. The smart cards allow viewers from outside Albania to access live coverage of matches.

The league also delayed the sales process for the previous cycle of rights in Albania, from 2010-11 to 2012-13, due to similar concerns.

The Premier League last month launched an invitation to tender for its European rights for three seasons, from 2013-14 to 2015-16. The tender was split into 33 individual broadcast territories, but did not include the Nordic region.