Fifa and Uefa, football’s global and European governing bodies, have lost an appeal against a European court ruling that the World Cup and European Championships national team events must be shown on free-to-air television in the UK and Belgium, according to the BBC News website.
Fifa and Uefa had been challenging legislation that ensures the World Cup and European Championship finals are shown in their entirety on free-to-air television. Uefa had challenged the UK list. Fifa had challenged the lists of the UK and Belgium.
The two governing bodies were appealing a February 2011 ruling by the European General Court, Europe’s second-highest court, which backed an earlier decision by the European Commission to approve the listing of the events.
The European Court of Justice has now said the original decision in the General Court in 2011 was correct. The ruling means that the two tournaments cannot be sold exclusively to pay-television broadcasters.
In December, ECJ advocate general Niilo Jaaskinen said the UK and Belgium should be allowed to reserve top national team events staged by Fifa and Uefa for free-to-air television if the tournaments are deemed to be of public importance. The ECJ follows its advocate generals’ recommendations in the majority of cases.
By blocking pay-television broadcasters from acquiring the rights, listed-events legislation restricts the potential pool of bidders in the UK and Belgium and therefore prevents Fifa and Uefa from maximising rights revenues.