Emma McClarkin MEP welcomes EU court decision on football rights

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that British football fans can continue to enjoy major international tournaments on free-to-air television, in another landmark case on football broadcast rights.

The Court has rejected a complaint from FIFA and UEFA regarding a decision of the European Commission to approve the UK’s reservation of broadcasting rights for the Football World Cup and Euro championship for free-to-air TV channels. UEFA and FIFA claimed that such decisions interfere with property rights, particularly for example forcing all group matches to be shown on free-to-air channels.

Emma McClarkin MEP, Conservative sports spokesman in the European Parliament, has welcomed the ruling, saying that finally the court has recognised the specificity of sport.

Ms McClarkin said:

“This is good news for fans.

“It seems that finally the message is getting across to EU judges that sport is a very specific subject that is organised differently to the rest of the Single Market. We need to recognise the specificity of sport, particularly during big occasions such as the World Cup or European Championship.

“Group matches could be very important to other countries towards the end of the group stages. England fans will want to watch the other matches across the groups to see who their team may be playing in the knock-out stages. These matters are in the national interest and they should be free for the nation to watch.

“We need to ensure that the crown jewels of our national sports are accessible to everyone. I hope that FIFA and UEFA will not appeal this ruling.”