The UK’s competition regulator has revealed it is investigating possible breaches of the law by sports broadcasters relating to the purchase of freelance services.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it believed there were reasonable grounds to suspect one or more aspects of competition law had been broken.

Its investigation was taking in BT Group, IMG Media which includes Premier League Productions, ITV and Sky, the owner of Sky News.

The watchdog said it has “reasonable grounds” to suspect that the companies have broken rules but highlighted it does not yet have enough information to draw conclusions.

It is investigating the broadcasters under Section 25 of the Competition Act, which allows the CMA to look into potential cartels.

“The investigation relates to the purchase by such companies of freelance services which support the production and broadcasting of sports content in the UK,” the CMA said.

A BT spokesperson responded: “We note today’s statement from the CMA and are reviewing the details while co-operating fully with their team.

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“It is clear that CMA’s investigation is focussed very specifically on the purchase of freelance services and not any other aspects of the BT Sport or wider BT Group business.”

A Sky spokesman said: “We are co-operating fully with the CMA.”

A statement from ITV said it was “committed to complying with competition law and is co-operating with the CMA’s inquiries. ITV does not propose to comment on this investigation further at this stage.”

IMG has also been contacted for comment.

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