FAI statement on governments palns to 'list' sports events for terrestial tv
fai.ie
Quote:
In response to the Government announcement of its indication to proceed with the listing of sporting events, a FAI spokesman said it would have a serious effect on both domestic football and the development of the future stars of the International team.
The consequence of listing going ahead in the absence of an agreed working model developed by all the parties involved - the Government, the Broadcasting organisations and the sporting Associations, would have a detrimental effect on Irish domestic soccer and overall on sport in this country.
The principle behind the EU directive enabling the listing of certain sporting events after consultation with the sporting bodies in question, is to both enable the event be shown on terrestrial TV but to provide a fair market value for the sporting association in return.
In an environment where the broadcaster occupies a dominant position as in the case of RTE, the concept of fair market value for listed events is completely unworkable. The fact that in negotiations between RTE and the FAI, over a period of nine months, the best RTE offer for the rights to Ireland's home matches was 400% less than the only other market offer (from Sky) indicates that fair market values as portrayed by RTE are meaningless.
The real losers in this situation would be the tens of thousands of football lovers who support the domestic game which will be starved of support as a result of the listing of international games. A spokesman for the FAI said this could have a very serious impact on the domestic game in Ireland.
The under-age international matches which directly encourage and foster the development of the new generation of Irish internationals will also be severely curtailed if the listing of events reduces the revenue income from TV rights. Competitions at under 17, under 19 and under 21 level will have to be cut back as revenues diminish. The spokesman said that this loss of revenues and the curtailment of under age fixtures will have a devastating impact on youth development through the ranks, a system which has brought us world stars like Robbie Keane and Damien Duff.
The FAI indicated that it had informed Government that it had preliminary legal advice which was not consistent with that outlined by the Government at its meeting with the FAI last Friday and that it is seeking a more defined opinion on the matter. The Association also told Government that it had appraised Sky of the information received at that meeting but that the Sky contract was agreed and signed.
[Press releases are always free to use pete, even in full. --adam]
