MILAN, Aug 13 - Serie A said on Friday it had agreed to live stream some matches in the Middle East and North Africa over YouTube as Italy's top football league faces a stalemate over the sale of broadcasting rights in the region.
The League, home to Juventus, AC Milan and Inter, has tried to break a deadlock over the sale of rights to screen its matches over the next three seasons across a market which includes territories such as Egypt, Morocco and the Gulf States for months.
However, Qatari broadcaster beIn has been reluctant to join the tender process, while discussions with media company Saudi Sports Co over a broadcasting deal have been fruitless, sources have said previously, leaving an accord before the Aug. 21 season starts elusive.
The league has decided to proceed with the creation of an Arabic - language channel on the YouTube platform, the Serie A said in a statement following a teleconferenced meeting that was confirming what sources told Reuters earlier in the day.
The channel will broadcast five matches for each day of the championship visible only in the area concerned.
The Serie A clubs agreed to live stream matches on Google-owned video platform YouTube for up to a year while they keep negotiating a deal with traditional broadcasters over the sale of TV licenses in the region, three sources familiar with the matter added.
The back-up deal with YouTube will be suspended in case the league sells pay-TV licenses in the region, the people said.
The Middle East and North Africa region is the main TV package to still be awarded by Serie A before the season start.
Under the international cycle, Serie A collected 970 million euros in adjusted revenue from the sale of three-year-old TV rights licenses.
The Italian league has so far secured contracts valued at more than 640 million euros for screening live matches.