Antitrust authority rejects Canal’s claim in Amazon French soccer rights row

France’s antitrust authority said on Wednesday it has rejected a claim by pay TV channel Canal Plus and beIN Sports that the French football professional league (LFP) abused its dominant position when it awarded Amazon broadcasting rights to the main League 1 matches.

France’s Autorite de la Concurrence said in a statement it had not found “sufficient evidence” to back the claim that LFP treated them differently from Amazon when it re-allocated to Amazon the bulk of the rights for Leaque 1 matches until 2024 that were previously held by Spanish broadcaster Mediapro.

The broadcast contracts help fund France’s soccer clubs. Reuters