The Premier League has suspended an upcoming £43 million television rights deal with the Vladimir Putin-decreed Russian broadcaster Match TV.
The Athletic reported in May that no decision had yet been made over their agreement. However, it is now understood that Premier League clubs have been told this morning that the deal has been suspended.
It followed a report in March that the Premier League was reviewing arrangements around broadcasting in Russia.
The Premier League then suspended one broadcast deal in Russia — with over-the-top platform Okko Sport, whose Rambler group is owned by state-owned bank Sberbank.
Sberbank has been sanctioned in both the United Kingdom and the United States after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This contract, however, had only a couple of months left to run when the Premier League pulled the plug.
But a fresh deal with Match TV was set to begin next season.
Match TV is owned by Gazprom Media, ultimately owned by Gazprombank — which has also been targeted by the US Treasury.
The deal was reported to be a six-year agreement worth in the region of €50 million (£43 million).
Match TV was ordered to open by Putin, as per decree No 715 signed by the president of the Russian Federation on June 24, 2009.
At the end of the season, Manchester City’s Ukrainian footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko draped the Ukraine national flag around the Premier League trophy when Manchester City won the title. He has also personally pleaded on his Instagram page to “stop the sale of rights to broadcasts of international sporting competitions to Russian media”.
Russia began an invasion of Ukraine on February 24, which has had wide ramifications across football.
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich sold Chelsea late last month, while there have also been significant shows of support for Ukraine across the game.
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