Yesterday, the High Court ruled that ITV's main shareholders, Carlton Communications and Granada, were not liable to pick up the 拢178.5m bill left unpaid by ITV Digital out of its three-year 拢315m deal to televise League football matches.
The ruling will leave many of the clubs out of pocket and some will face bankruptcy, because they hiked up player's salaries on the promise of the money from ITV Digital and extra revenues, such as advertising and sponsorship, they would get from appearing in televised matches.
Millwall chairman Theo Paphitis last night said Football League chief executive David Burns was "not fit to run a kebab shop".
He said: "The league has stumbled from one disaster to another, first with ITV Digital and then renegotiating the new contract with Sky."
The league recently signed a four-season TV rights deal with Sky for 拢95m -- half the amount the teams were owed by ITV Digital for the remaining two years of their contract.
"The organisation must be totally restructured. It's amateurish and needs to get professional. It's a billion-pound business -- but if I had a kebab shop I wouldn't let them run it," Paphitis said.
Other football club chiefs echoed his disappointment.
Gillingham chairman Paul Scally said: "It's a very sad day for football. Many clubs will now look at their situation and it could push them over the edge."
Chris Turner, manager of Division Three team Hartlepool, said that although the decision had come as no surprise, the Division One teams would be worse hit.
"It will hit them harder as they were due a larger slice of the cake," he said.
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