The German Football League (DFL) on Thursday dismissed accusations from streaming portal DAZN in connection with the sale of broadcast rights 2025-2929 which have been suspended as a result.
"The DFL has not made any formal errors in the ongoing auction process. DAZN's accusations are unfounded and are rejected by the DFL," the league said in a statement.
DAZN sent a letter to DFL managing directors Marc Lenz and Steffen Merkel as well as the 36 clubs on Wednesday, accusing the DFL of demanding a bank guarantee within 24 hours which was impossible.
It said that like in the past it had submitted an unrestricted comfort letter to the DFL.
The DFL said the DAZN letter contained "a large number of inaccurate statements and misrepresentations of facts."
The incident occurred around Monday's sale of the biggest and most lucrative package B consisting of the Friday fixture and Saturday afternoon games for a total 196 matches for the seasons 2025-26 to 2028-29.
DAZN said it submitted the highest bid. The package reportedly went to Sky TV, which has not commented.
The portal said the awarding violated German and European anti-trust laws and that it has informed the German cartel office which has approved the tender and is monitoring it.
It remains unclear when the sales process will continue which is bad news for the clubs who want to plan ahead.
Under the current deal which expires next year they get €1.1 billion ($1.17 billion) per season from broadcast rights. Around one quarter of the sum comes from DAZN who broadcast the Friday and Sunday games.
A legal dispute is not out of the question if DAZN decide to go to court. They could also withdraw completely from the sales process which would leave the DFL without a big bidder.
The events come a few weeks after the DFL abandoned plans to bring in an external partner after major protests from fans and concerns from some clubs.
