Top-flight clubs to scrap £43m Russian TV deal

PREMIER LEAGUE clubs are set to write off £43million by cancelling their new Russian television contract this week. Sportsmail has learned that the Premier League’s three-year deal with Match TV, which was due to start next season, will officially be scrapped at the clubs’ AGM in Harrogate on Thursday. The Premier League had already responded to Russian’s invasion of Ukraine by suspending their previous TV deal with Rambler Media in March, but that contract was coming to an end anyway and was only worth £6m a season. The new deal with Match TV was due to begin in August, but the Premier League have opted to walk away before the contract has started in a move that will cost each club millions. The Premier League initially opted to continue broadcasting in Russia following the invasion, with their production company inserting pro-Ukraine messaging into their match coverage for one round of games, before the clubs agreed to suspend the Rambler Media deal and make a £1m donation to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine relief fund. The faint possibility of a negotiated settlement this summer — and the time before the new contract was due to begin — led the Premier League to delay making a decision on the Match TV deal, but with no end to the conflict in sight after 100 days of Russian occupation the termination will be confirmed this week. Match TV have close links to the Russian government as they are owned by Gazprom Media, and the channel was personally opened following a presidential decree by Vladimir Putin three years ago.