Sky Italia claims victory in World Cup case

Pay TV provider Sky Italia has claimed victory in a court case with rival Mediaset over its rights to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Mediaset’s broadcasting arm RTI had claimed that Sky’s acquisition of the rights to the 2010 tournament had breached the conditions set by the European Commission to green-light the 2003 merger between Stream and Telepiù to create Sky Italia. RTI had initially asked the Court of Arbitration to make the rights available to other broadcasters before the start of the competition, and then demanded compensation over its inability to broadcast the games on its Mediaset Premium service.

The Court of Arbitration has now ruled that the rights to the World Cup did not fall within the enforcement of the merger undertakings because the event was not essential to the competitiveness of a competing television offer.