Pay-television operator Sky Italia this week hit back at suggestions that its recent complaint to the European Union over a new Italian football rights law was intended to undermine rival Mediaset. The company, owned by News Corporation, is challenging a law that would compel Italy's professional football league, Lega Calcio, to sell broadcast rights to its matches from 2010 on a collective basis. At present, rights are sold individually by clubs. The new law opens up the possibility that Sky Italia - which today owns most of the broadcast rights - might lose out completely on rights in the future. The company is permitted to bid only for satellite-television rights - a condition arising out of its creation in 2003 - and would not be able to bid at all if the league were to decide to create cross-platform bundles.
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