THE SIDELINES : CTV Near ’91 Cuba Games Deal
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TORONTO — A Canadian television network is close to signing a deal to cover the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, allowing the Cubans to sidestep a U.S. embargo, sources close to the organizers said today.
CTV, Canada’s biggest commercial television network, plans to recoup some of the cost by selling coverage to the ABC network in the United States, according to sources who asked not to be identified.
The development came a day after ABC filed a suit against the U.S. Treasury Department for denying the network a license to televise the games.
ABC had proposed paying a fee of about $6.5 million to Cuba for rights to cover the games, but the Treasury Department blocked the plan on the grounds that it would violate a 27-year U.S. embargo on trade with Cuba.
Canadian companies are allowed to trade freely with Cuba.
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