US media companies Fox and Turner have rejected reports that the Argentinian Superliga, the top division of domestic football, will continue to be broadcast on a free-to-air basis by Televisión Digital Abierta.
Fox and Turner have responded to comments from Rodrigo de Loredo, president of state-owned telecommunications group Arsat, who said talks were at an advanced stage for the Superliga to be broadcast by TDA through to the end of the year.
In March, Fox and Turner were jointly awarded rights by the Argentinian Football Association for five seasons, from 2017-18 to 2021-22, with an option to extend by a further five seasons until the end of the 2026-27 season.
The award of the rights signalled the end of the long-running Fútbol para Todos (Football for All) scheme, in which the government subsidised free-to-air coverage of domestic football.
Fox and Turner said in a joint statement: “In accordance with the press statements issued in recent days, under which it has been stated that the matches of the Argentina Superliga de Fútbol (SAF) tournament would be offered free until the end of the year by Televisión Digital Abierta (TDA), Fox Networks Group and Turner, companies that own the rights of transmission for the Argentine territory of the Primera Division of Argentine football, want to clarify that they have not authorised TDA to issue the matches of the Argentine Superliga de Fútbol (SAF) that correspond to be televised by both companies.
“As far as Fox Networks Group and Turner are concerned, the matches of the Primera Division of the Argentine Football Superliga (SAF) will continue to be offered exclusively through their own Fox SportsPremium and TNT Sports channels (both in full HD), and for a limited promotional time by the Fox Sports 2 and TNT channels (both in standard definition).”