Clubs threaten to boycott Serie A matches in TV row
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-14 20:10

ROME, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Fourteen Serie A sides are threatening to boycotting matches against Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan in a dispute about the way clubs sell their TV rights.

The clubs, led by Fiorentina owner Diego Della Valle, are demanding a return to collective bargaining with the aim of spreading out television revenue more equally among the division's 20 teams.

"Either we don't play matches against the big clubs or else we send youth teams out to play against them, killing off any interest the matches might have internationally," Sampdoria president Riccardo Garrone was quoted as saying in La Gazzetta dello Sport on Saturday.

The controversy erupted on Wednesday, when Forza Italia, the party created by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, blocked a proposed reform of the law governing the sale of TV rights.

The Berlusconi family holding company Fininvest owns AC Milan, one of the teams that benefits most from dealing individually with the television companies.

Clubs have negotiated their own deals since 1999 -- a situation that has allowed sides like Juve, Milan and Inter to earn up to 10 times more than their smaller rivals.