CLAIMS that a #5.4m deal with SKY TV for coverage of the league cup next season had been scuppered by members of the embryo Scottish Premier League were vigorously denied last night.
The first, second, and third -division clubs had hoped to push through the agreement, by which the TV company offered the cash for four years' exclusive rights to the league cup, understood to involve live coverage of one game from the quarter final, one from the semi final, and the final itself.
However, a premier club source insisted that the deal had not been given the boot by the top clubs. ''We were asked individually by phone to give an immediate decision on the deal and that simply is not the way to conduct business. What the top clubs said was that we would prefer to defer a decision until a proper discussion could take place. We did not vote against it.''
It seems, though, that the others on the management committee, representing the lower divisions, did give give the go-ahead. Said one of their number: ''Some of us think that the top clubs feared this contract would be used by SKY as a benchmark for the negotiations with the Premier League and they did not want that.''
Ironically, this news comes just before the Scottish League annual meeting on Thursday, where the 10 clubs will leave the association. With no sponsors settled for the other three divisions, the clubs are worried about their future.
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