FIFA and UEFA Lose Free-to-Air Appeal

FIFA and UEFA have lost an appeal at the European Court of Justice against a previous ruling that the World Cup and Euro Championships must be shown on free-to-air TV in the UK.

FIFA and UEFA went to Europe’s Supreme Court to dispute the decision, seek arguing that not allowing the football associations to exclusively sell the tournaments to pay-TV firms had prevented them from receiving their real market value.

The appeal comes after a 2011 European General Court decision that the two championships could remain on a list of “protected” events of national sporting interest broadcast for free.

The BBC and ITV received the rights to air the football World Cup finals in 2014 and were guaranteed free-to-air broadcast.

Fears had grown that a move towards a pay-TV model would be in place for the 2018 World Cup in Russia if the two governing bodies had won their appeal.

The court said it “dismisses the appeals brought by Fifa and Uefa in their entirety”.

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