The British government yesterday took a firm stance against the media ownership of sporting franchises when it blocked Rupert Murdoch's planned £623 million sterling (€924.88 million) takeover of Manchester United, one of the world's biggest soccer clubs.
The decision stands in sharp contrast to policy in other European countries and in the US, where media ownership of sporting clubs is commonplace.
Mr Murdoch's News Corporation itself owns baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers, while in Europe the Italian soccer club, AC Milan, is owned by Silvio Berlusconi, head of the Mediaset group, and the French club, Paris St Germain, is owned by Canal Plus.
The bid had been made by British Sky Broadcasting, the country's dominant sports broadcaster, which is controlled by News Corp.
Ownership of United would have allowed Mr Murdoch's broadcasting companies to exploit the full commercial potential of the club's vast worldwide following. The decision was taken after the competition authorities concluded that the deal would give the satellite broadcaster an unfair advantage in the negotiation of the lucrative television rights to soccer matches in the English Premier League.
Although referring only to the BSkyB/United deal, the concerns expressed in the competition commission's report about the impact of media ownership on soccer's future cast doubts over the chances of other British clubs agreeing takeover deals with media groups.
The strength of the commission's opposition to the takeover surprised analysts and lawyers, and made it easier for Mr Stephen Byers, the UK trade and industry secretary, to take what had been seen as a politically uncomfortable decision.
The government has been criticised over its links with Mr Murdoch, whose Sun newspaper advised its readers to vote Labour at the 1997 general election, and the bid had attracted vociferous opposition.
BSkyB and Manchester United both expressed disappointment at the decision. Mr Mark Booth, BSkyB's chief executive, said the decision set an unfortunate precedent for other clubs and companies looking to join forces.
"This is a bad ruling for British football clubs, who will have to compete in Europe against clubs who are backed by successful media companies," he said.
The decision was hailed by Shareholders United Against Murdoch, the pressure group which led the fight to block the bid, as "a victory for football, a victory for broadcasting and a victory for the ordinary fan".
Football share prices fell sharply on the London stock market after the ruling. Shares in Manchester United dived on the London Stock Exchange in reaction to the news, falling nearly 15 per cent to 186p. That compares with the original 240p per share cash offer from BSkyB, whose shares ended unchanged at 542p.
The British government on Friday also asked the competition authorities to look at plans for cable company NTL Inc to buy premier league Newcastle United Plc. NTL has a 6.3 percent stake in Newcastle and had said it would bid if the BSkyB/Man United deal went ahead.
