I fully agree with Charles Micallef (July 6) that the current situation imposed on sports fans forcing them to pay about €60 per month to watch European football is unfair and should be addressed immediately.

Melita envisaged long ago that this possibility could happen and, back in 2009, it approached Go to discuss ways to avoid this scenario from actually coming to life. We were ready to enter into such discussions notwithstanding that, at the time, Melita owned exclusive rights to broadcast all European top-tier football leagues such as the Uefa Champions League, Serie A and Premier League while Go owned none of these top-tier properties.

Unfortunately, Go showed no signs of willingness to arrive at a solution, which would have had long-term benefits for the consumer while also following the natural business principles for both respective companies.

Our offer to start talks was repeated again recently during a meeting of the Parliamentary Social Affairs Committee and followed up once more through a commercial proposal in writing, whereby we offered Go a financial model to serve as a basis for further discussion. All our requests have been turned down repeatedly. Unless a long-term solution is found, this scenario will keep repeating itself periodically every time football rights change platform and will harm the consumers and the country, as millions of euros will continue to leave Malta straight into the pockets of rights holders and league owners instead of generating jobs in Malta and ample choice for the consumer.

Melita remains open to discuss content sharing with all relevant parties for the long-term benefit of all those concerned.