Let us watch football!

Scottish footballer Bill Shankly could not have been more accurate when he said: "Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that!" A walk down Merchants Street, in Valletta, this past month is enough to convince even the most sceptical that this is true also of our country. Young and old, mothers, children, professionals, parliamentarians, grandparents, you name it, were there exchanging calciatori stickers to complete their albums. Such is the buzz created by this tournament that, even if you are not a football fan, for a month or two you have to become one.

Luckily for the fans, this time around we are blessed with being able to watch practically all World Cup games free on national TV. In a watershed agreement through the European Broadcasting Union, national stations from smaller states obtained affordable access to World Cup TV rights. This translates in a record 46 out of 64 games being shown on TVM for free during this World Cup. Additionally, PBS have reached an agreement with Melita whereby the latter will provide the whole World Cup experience both in standard definition and in high definition while still carrying TVM and RAI as free-to-air stations.

Ultimately, the Maltese will be watching for free up to double the matches our Italian counterparts will see free of charge on RAI. This is a first in broadcasting history and we hope it will not be the last. Indeed, I have taken the lead from this, calling on the Social Affairs Parliamentary Committee to take it a step further and ensure that it is not only affordable access to the World Cup games that the Maltese get as their right but also affordable and fair access to Serie A, Premier League and the Champions League, as well as other top international leagues.

Let me explain. As things stand, the two providers, Melita and Go, bid for TV sports rights. The situation in Malta is such that the law only provides for important games to be shown on free-to-air stations. The rest are subject to a bidding war by the providers which, eventually, translates into subscription fees for the respective sports channels. At the moment, however, in order to follow all matches, one has to buy two boxes and two subscriptions -Go and Melita. The cost of both sports channels with a basic subscription on each platform starts from a minimum of €52.73 per month.

My proposal is simple. Let us watch football. Let us push for agreements that will benefit the consumer by having both providers share rights or agree to wholesaling rights. This is already happening in other EU countries. Given the prevailing scenario, the consumer is losing out. Following our favourite European football teams is fast becoming a cost too high to incur. This not only goes against the spirit of sports itself but is also trampling on consumer rights. The consumer is being left with no choice. Pay both operators to watch all top leagues or simply enjoy fewer football games. To me this is unacceptable, especially when one considers that various illegal sources for viewing are constantly gaining in popularity as a result of the war between the two operators.

What I am proposing is nothing ground-breaking because it has already been done in the UK. Ofcom, the official UK communications regulator, faced with a similar scenario to the one in Malta, ruled that winners of football transmission rights are obliged to wholesale them to other service providers or rivals. In a nutshell, this gives all TV operators the possibility to broadcast the leagues on their platforms. This ensures a level playing field to all operators which will then compete with their rivals on value for money and service and not on what is shown on sports channels.

In such a scenario, the consumer reigns supreme! Maltese fans should not be made to pay for two subscriptions but base their decision on other factors, such as service and reliability. The consumer has a right to choose and, as an elected representative of the people, I have a duty to act.

To this end, I have called on the chairman of the Parliamentary Social Affairs Committee, Edwin Vassallo, and together we have pushed the issue to the top of the agenda of this committee. We will call in the Malta Communications Authority, the Broadcasting Authority, the Office for Consumer Affairs as well as PBS, Melita and Go in order to get more views for the House to have an informed report on the subject, possibly leading to better protection of customers' rights.

Our favourite teams will compete in this World Cup and we will cheer till our voices become hoarse. In the midst of this, we will be looking to unite under one banner the right to watch football at no extra expense. One subscription is fine, two is unacceptable.

The author is government Whip and Parliamentary Assistant at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.