BUENOS AIRES: Argentinian media conglomerate Grupo Clarin and the Telefónica telecommunications company have been awarded rights to domestic football league action featuring the country’s biggest clubs, according to the Cronista newspaper.

Grupo Clarin-owned Artear (Channel 13) and Telefónica-owned Telefe will show exclusive coverage of games featuring Boca Juniors, River Plate, Independiente, Racing and San Lorenzo.

The rights will be worth a total of about ARS180m (€12.2m/$13.3m) in 2016 – about one-tenth of the Argentinian government’s total annual budget for its ‘Football for all’ scheme, which reserves domestic football rights on free-to-air television.

The games will continue to be available on free-to-air television, although not on a public-service broadcaster as before.

America TV, which along with Channel 9 tabled an offer for the rights, is planning to appeal against the decision, the newspaper said.