Spanish media company Prisa has been ordered by the Provincial Court of Madrid to pay Mediapro €51 million in a row over football rights.
The decision is part of a long-running dispute between the two companies, when in 2007 Prisa accused Mediapro of breach of contract for signing deals directly with football clubs from La Liga, and cut the signal to its customers.
An appeal by Mediapro in Spain’s Supreme Court was upheld in 2015, which led to the broadcaster seeking damages.
In a statement, Mediapro said: “The sentence reconfirms the good name of Mediapro in what became known as ‘the football war’ and the illegality of Prisa’s claims, which, after almost 10 years of litigation, have been penalised by the Courts time and time again.
“The sentence establishes that the interim measures applied by Court 36 allowed Prisa to exploit rights owned by Mediapro, thus depriving Mediapro of exploitation rights and incurring damages amounting to €51 million.”
