Setanta has failed to make a payment due under its Scottish Premier League rights contract, and had a request for a 50 million pound advance payment from rival Sky turned down. The Guardian reports that a £3 million payment to SPL clubs, due Monday, went unpaid.

Setanta and the SPL have a four-year deal worth £54.5 million, which ends next season. An extension of the deal runs until 2014.

Neither Setanta nor the SPL would make any comment on the matter.

The Brand Republic website reports that Sky turned down Setanta's offer of a deal that would have meant Sky selling Setanta packages directly to its own customers, and paying £50 million in advance.

Brand Republic reports that Setanta's private equity investors stand ready to invest £50 million in the company.