Italy’s antitrust authority, the AGCM, has rejected the guidelines outlined by Lega Serie A for the centralised selling of the next package of rights to the top division of domestic football and other competitions, stating they are too “vague” in their definitions of the process.
The communications regulator last month launched a procedure that intended to define the rules for the sale of football rights across the three seasons spanning 2018-19 to 2020-21. Lega Serie A issued the initial guidelines on November 30 with the AGCM stating it intended to end its investigation on January 29.
AGCM’s probe has involved all stakeholders in the Serie A rights process. After assessing the packages outlined in the guidelines the regulator said it had not found it possible to confirm its conformity with media regulations.
The rights tender will also include the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa cup competitions. AGCM stated its concern over information regarding indications over which entities are likely to compete for the rights. It said it found it difficult to guarantee that the process would comply with Article 6 of the Melandri Decree designed to ensure that participants engage in competitive procedures with “absolutely fair conditions, transparency and non-discrimination.”
AGCM said in a statement: “From a reading of the guidelines it is not possible to verify that the definition of packages, then operated by the Lega Calcio, is likely to ensure that the participants in the tender procedure brought by the Lega Serie A compete on a level playing field, with transparency and non-discrimination, that they do not compromise competition in television and radio markets, for which the broadcasting rights of the highest Italian football league are configured as a primary element, if not essential.”