Spain: RFEF ordered to pay €1.2m to Mediapro for breach of the VAR contract (Court of Madrid)

The Commercial Court of Madrid has ruled in favour of Mediapro against the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), which has to compensate the Spanish audiovisual group €1.2m for the unilateral termination of the VAR contract that ran until the end of the 2021-22 season, according to Spanish media El Independiente on 19/02/2022.

Despite the fact that Mediapro presented a higher financial offer than its rival Hawk-Eye (and had more experience in providing the VAR service), the RFEF chose to sell the rights to the British company.

The broadcasting group complained that the basis of the attribution contract included explicit clauses to prevent Mediapro from taking over the rights, such as not choosing companies that had been criminally sanctioned.

Copa del Rey TV rights: "RFEF abused its dominant market position to prejudice Mediapro" (Court of Madrid, 12/01/2022)

• The Commercial Court of Madrid ruled in favour of Mediapro, which took the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to court for excluding it from being awarded the audiovisual rights to the Copa del Rey, for the 2019-2022 cycle…