No free-to-air coverage in Poland for World Cup qualifier

A game involving the Poland national football team is set to be unavailable on free-to-air television in the country for the first time in 11 years after public-service broadcaster TVP was unable to agree a rights deal with the Sportfive agency.

Poland’s Fifa World Cup 2014 qualifying match away at Montenegro this Friday, September 7, will only be available on a pay-per-view service offered by pay-television operators Cyfra Plus, Polsat, N and UPC, as well as online via Polsat-owned service IPLA, according to the RP news website.

Cable-television operator Multimedia and telecommunications company Vectra are also set to agree a deal with Sportfive to show the game, the report said.

Viewers can access the match on the platforms for Zloty20 (€4.78/$6.03).

Sportfive said that the match would be available in 14 million homes in Poland, despite the lack of free-to-air coverage.

RP said it was highly unlikely that TVP would agree a deal to show Poland’s next World Cup qualifier, a home match versus Moldova on Tuesday, September 11.