The English Football League renewed its call today for broadcasters Carlton and Granada to pay off the debts of their ITV Digital venture.
"It's not a question of holding out for anything or being intransigent . . . Carlton and Granada can afford to pay the debt, they are just refusing to do so," the league's chief executive, Mr David Burns, told BBC radio.
ITV Digital owes the league £178.5 million sterling for the rights to broadcast matches involving clubs outside the elite Premier League - a bill it says it cannot afford to pay.
But the clubs need the TV money to pay their players' wages. Media reports say that up to 30 of the 72 league clubs could go bust if the money is not paid.
Carlton and Granada said last week they would not put any more cash into loss-making ITV Digital, which has already cost them some £800 million pounds.
The administrators to ITV Digital said yesterday they were putting the business up for sale after failing to reach a deal with the league, its chief creditor.
They were expected to brief the British regulator, Independent Television Commission, later today.