UEFA have announced a new three-year deal for Champions
League rights with Sky and ITV - but England's top clubs face a
major drop in their income from the competition if a European
ruling goes against them.
The deal for 2012-2015 is understood to be worth £400million,
similar to the current agreement.
But William Gaillard, adviser to UEFA president Michel Platini,
said a European Court of Justice (ECJ) case could force a major
shake-up in the sale of TV rights across the continent.
Gaillard told Press Association Sport: "This may force us to
sell the rights on a Europe-wide basis, which would prevent us from
identifying individual national TV pools.
"That will be bad news for clubs in big TV markets such as
England."
The Premier League also fear the case - their legal battle
against Portsmouth pub landlady Karen Murphy who has used a Greek
satellite decoder to screen live matches - could affect their TV
income.
The European Union's advocate general Juliane Kokott has already
advised that the case means that selling TV rights in separate
countries within the EU goes against European law.
The case is now being dealt with by the ECJ with a decision
expected in the late summer.
At the moment, UEFA splits Champions League payments among the
32 clubs in the group stage, half depending on how far they
progress and half on the value of their country's TV deals.
The current £400million deal with Sky and ITV for the UK rights
is the biggest in Europe and has seen English clubs earn between
£20million and £35million annually from the Champions League alone.
Beyond 2015, the future is uncertain.
Under the new deal, ITV will have first pick of the match to
show live on Tuesday night and highlights, while Sky Sports have
the rights to broadcast live all Champions League matches except
for the games on ITV. Sky also has the rights for delayed
broadcasts and highlights on both nights.
Gaillard fears that those who say the ECJ often do not follow
the advocate general's advice may be burying their head in the
sand.
He said: "Most of the time the ECJ follow what the advocate
general has said, and the rest of the time partially follow that
advice."
In Scotland, where television income from the Champions League
is around £10million, and other smaller TV markets, the court case
could have a positive effect.
If the case goes against the Premier League it could mean the
clubs having to have one single TV deal covering the whole of
Europe, rather than domestic TV rights and rights for other
individual countries being sold separately.
It could also mean that no matches kicking off at 3pm on
Saturday could be shown anywhere in Europe. Currently broadcasts of
matches at that time are only blocked for British television, which
is why some pub landlords used foreign satellite decoders.
The other alternative would be for the Premier League to throw
every single match open to live TV coverage across the whole of
Europe.
That would lead to opposition from those who want to keep the
Saturday 3pm slot as a closed window in order to protect
attendances at games.
Sports minister Hugh Robertson said the Government is putting
pressure on the European Commission to maintain the current
system.
Robertson said: "I have taken the issue up directly with the
European Commissioner responsible for this."
The Premier League said in February any change resulting from
the case "would damage the interests of broadcasters and viewers of
Premier League football across the EU".