MILAN (Reuters) - Italian broadcaster Mediaset has dropped out of an auction for rights to screen Italy's top flight Serie A football matches after submitting a lower bid than rival Sky, a source attending Wednesday's Serie A League meeting said.
Mediaset had no comment. Sky could not immediately be reached for comment.
The League kicked off a new bidding round for the 2018-2021 season rights earlier this month after it cancelled a contract awarding them to the Spanish multimedia group Mediapro.
The decision was taken as the Barcellona-based, Chinese-owned group had failed to present the necessary bank guarantees.
Mediapro had been expected to auction the rights to other operators but its tender was also cancelled by a Milan judge in May on grounds that it breached antitrust rules. This followed a legal challenge from Sky's Italian subsidiary.
Mediapro did not take part in Wednesday's auction for the rights of the 400 matches, a separate source close to the League said, adding that British-based sports media group Perform was also one of the bidders.
The process to award the rights to Italy's main football championship has been going on for over a year.
The 2018 season of Italy's Serie A, which ended in May, was aired by both Sky's Italian subsidiary and Mediaset's pay-TV arm Premium.
Bids for the rights to air matches of the next three seasons, bundled in different packages, were due by 0900 GMT on Wednesday, with the League expected to assign them by the end of the day.
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina and Giancarlo Navach; Writing by Giulia Segreti; Editing by Paola Arosio and Edmund Blair)
