The £20m is for ITV Digital's part of a three-way £180m deal for pay-per-view rights to Premiership football matches agreed between ITV Digital, BSkyB and NTL.
The deal, signed last year, has two years left to run and the Premier League has said it has adequate parent company guarantees to ensure it gets its money.
However, it is the lack of parent company guarantees that has sparked the war between ITV Digital, which was placed into administration last week, and the Football League, which represents Nationwide and Worthington Cup football teams.
The agreement will likely stoke the anger of first, second and third division football team chairmen, who are meeting today with David Burns, chief executive of the Football League and Keith Harris, its chairman, about the financial wrangle with the broadcaster.
ITV Digital owes the Football League £178m for the remaining two years of its three-year deal to broadcast league matches.
However, now the company has been put into administration, its parents, Carlton and Granada, have said they are not liable for the sum because the part of the contract that outlines their responsibilities as parents of ITV Digital was never signed.
The Football League has threatened to sue Carlton and Granada for £500m to cover the outstanding payment and to cover revenues the clubs will lose, now that the matches will not be shown on TV.
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