The "war for TV rights in Latin America has added, once again in Uruguay, another battle in court," according to Guillermo Pellegrino of CLARIN. In December, eight Uruguayan first division football clubs and the Uruguayan footballers' association (MUFP) filed a complaint against CONMEBOL President Eugenio Figueredo alleging that money that should have filtered down to the clubs, players and CONMEBOL itself was appropriated. The "money in question" came from the sale of media rights, sponsorship and advertising for the Copa Libertadores. The clubs "demanded that authorities trace the passage of funds through CONMEBOL to determine which individuals unduly benefited." The complaint followed "CONMEBOL's decision to reject a media rights offer" of $805M from Global Sport and "instead accept an offer" of $433M for the same period from broadcaster T&T. Uruguayan weekly publication Búsqueda on Friday reported that CONMEBOL presented to the court a 70-page document "divided into three chapters." The first "states that what the body is accused of does not constitute criminal activity." The "second chapter states that the clubs and the MUFP made the accusation on behalf of Global Sport." In the third chapter, "the document claims that the Uruguayan court is not the appropriate entity to investigate the accusation" (CLARIN, 5/9).
