Damage of 3 billion euros. This is what emerges from the legal action that the Serie A League has brought against the media agencies responsible for selling international TV rights between 2008 and 2018. The request for compensation, reports today’s edition of the The Republic follows a ruling by the Competition and Market Authority on 29 May 2019 according to which IMG, MP & Silva and Be4 would have agreed to form a cartel to limit competition with regard to matches in the Serie A, Serie B, Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana championships.
The action of the clubs
A decision, that of the antitrust, which would then have led not only the clubs of the top league to sue the various agencies at the court of Milan. Among the teams in fact there are Milan, Inter, Torino, Fiorentina in addition to the Serie A League itself which would estimate the lost revenues at least 1.8 billion euros. The compensations, adding the various requests, we read again in the newspaper, would instead exceed three billion.
The statements
Francesco Anglani, partner of the law firm Bonelli Erede which represents teams including Torino, Fiorentina and Roma, told the notebooks of Reuters that “it is the first time that an antitrust action for damages has been filed in Italy for such significant amounts”. For the agencies, however, they reply that the proceeds generated by the sales were in line with market prices. An IMG spokesperson argued: “We have strong objections to the accusations made against us and will defend ourselves vigorously”.