A landmark judgment ruling that top international football should be accessible to everyone has been welcomed as a “very positive step forward in favour of consumers” by Nationalist MP David Agius.
Mr Agius has for the past months been lobbying for matches to be available to consumers without the need to subscribe to different service providers.
The European Court of Justice last week declared there was nothing to stop member states from airing matches on free-to-air stations.
Mr Agius said such a positive decision followed another recent ECJ reasoned opinion laying down that territorial exclusivity agreements relating to transmission of football matches on TV were in breach of EU law.
He said the latest judgment should serve as an eye-opener to local service providers as it gave customers the right to access their favourite sport on television.
“No service provider can stop the airing of football matches on free-to-air stations,” he said.
The judgment is being described as a blow to FIFA, UEFA and pay TV operators around the EU, which have cashed in billions of euros in recent years by selling and buying exclusive TV rights to broadcast some or all of the games in prestigious football tournaments.
Service providers in Malta said they were closely following the developments and the implications the judgment could have on the local football rights scene.
The Malta Communications Authority said when contacted it was in the process of analysing the judgment.
The ECJ ruled that all EU member states had the right to decide that all football matches of World Cup tournaments and European Championships in the future be broadcast on free-to-air stations and not shown exclusively on pay TV channels. This means television service providers cannot stop the broadcast of all matches in such tournaments on free-to-air TV stations.
The ECJ rulings came in the wake of an appeal by FIFA and UEFA against a European Commission’s decision to approve lists of football matches to be available on free-to-view television. The lists were submitted by Belgium and the UK.
The court found that the Commission acted correctly in approving the lists of events in the UK and Belgium since the tournaments could be considered “of major importance for the UK and Belgian societies and can therefore be included in a national list specifying the events to which the public should be able to have access on free television”.
ECJ rulings are valid for all the EU member states.
In their lists, Belgium and the UK included the entire tournament of the FIFA World Cup (64 football matches). The UK’s also featured all the UEFA Championship games.
Under the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive, member states can draw up a list of events of major importance for their public and take measures to ensure such events (like the Olympic Games) are accessible on free-to-view television.
The lists can be submitted to the European Commission for approval in order to get recognition in other member states.
Lists in eight member states have so far been approved by the Commission: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and the UK.
In an immediate reaction, UEFA said it was disappointed to learn about the judgment. “UEFA will now study the decision in detail in order to decide on the next steps,” the organisation said.
FIFA did not comment on the ruling.
The service providers in Malta are also studying the judgment’s repercussions. “Melita is following the reactions of the ECJ ruling and other legal developments related to premium content very closely. At this stage the impact on Maltese consumers is not clear and any conclusions would be pure speculation.
In line with its previously stated position, Melita will support any local or international effort that makes sports and other premium content more accessible to the Maltese public,” a spokesman said.
A spokesman for Go said the judgment confirmed provisions that already existed in domestic laws, which listed matches that had to be broadcast free-to-air.
“The judgment confirms and clarifies existing EU law provisions. Malta has been in line with said provisions for a number of years. Government Notice 951 of 2008 lists the designated events of major importance to Maltese society, which includes selected World Cup and European Championships games.
“These are, thus, already subject to free-to-air broadcasting rules,” the spokesman said.