Italian regulator clears Sky of anti-competitive behaviour

The Italian antitrust authority has cleared Sky Italia of abusing its dominant position via the acquisition of UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup TV rights.

The AGCM said that exclusive rights to the Champions League for 2012-15 were awarded through a competitive process and that Sky had subsequently agreed to sub-license the rights to the next two competitions to rival Mediaset, meaning that the games would be available on pay TV both on the satellite platform and on digital-terrestrial TV.

It said there was no reason at present to doubt that the pair would strike a deal for sub-licensing of the 2014-15 tournament as well.

The regulator noted in the case of the World Cup that the main matches would be aired on free-to-air channels, as guaranteed by a EU directive.

The ruling followed a complaint filed by Mediaset in 2010.