ROME (Reuters) - Italy's Serie A football league said on Saturday it was launching a new tender for television rights to transmit matches for the seasons from 2018-2021 after private broadcaster Mediaset made no bid in the original tender.
"We don't believe the offers received represent the real value of Italian football," the League's president Carlo Tavecchio told reporters after a meeting of club representatives in Milan.
"As a result, the assembly has unanimously voted to not assign the rights to any of the participants," he said in remarks to Italian news agencies that were confirmed to Reuters by a League spokesman.
Earlier on Saturday, the deadline for bids in the original tender, Mediaset said it had presented no offer for the first time ever, leaving Sky as the only major participant.
Earlier this month Mediaset lodged a complaint with Italy's antitrust watchdog and communications regulator to try to change the conditions for the tender, which it said penalised it unfairly.
"We reiterate that the terms for presenting offers are totally unacceptable," it said in a statement on Saturday.
Tavecchio said the new tender would close in November or December of this year.
Mediaset stressed that its decision not to bid for the three seasons from 2018-19 would have no impact on the upcoming 2017-2018 season, for which it has already bought the rights to transmit Serie A and UEFA Champions League matches.
($1 = 0.8935 euros)