Bertie Ahern Explained law to FAI
Brendan Menton To take legal advice
The FAI has defended its deal with Sky TV on the broadcast of home soccer internationals. In a statement following a meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern this afternoon, the Association said that it would consider all the issues raised.
It said that it understood the real concerns of the Irish public in relation to the matter, but that it had to balance these with the future development of the game. "The achievement of the appropriate balance between these two is extremely difficult in an environment with one dominant media player," it said.
A government statement earlier said the Taoiseach outlined "the Government's rights and obligations under EU and Irish Law." The General Secretary of the FAI, Brendan Menton, said that the Government outlined the legal position as they saw it and that the FAI's task now was to start the process of consultation with its board and management.
The meeting had been arranged following a week of intense public debate since the FAI announced it had sold the rights to live broadcasts of the Republic of Ireland's home international soccer matches to Sky in a multi-million pound four-year deal.
Earlier, the Tánaiste said it appeared that the Government had a legal right to oblige BSkyB to allow FAI games to be carried live on terrestrial television. She said this appeared to be the case from the Attorney General Rory Brady's briefing to the Cabinet yesterday.
Mary Harney said that she wanted to see the games carried nationally and Ireland had a national broadcaster to provide these services.
A senior European Union official had suggested that the Government could draw up a list of protected sporting events and thereby ensure that the live matches would be available to viewers free of charge.
Under the deal between the FAI and Sky Sports, Irish viewers will only be able to see home internationals live on a subscription basis; they will be able to watch them free an hour after the matches have finished.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for TV3 said that the station welcomed the fact that the Taoiseach was meeting with the FAI. She added that a reversal of the Sky deal would give TV3 an opportunity to obtain the rights to Ireland's home games. She said that nobody should presume a change in the arrangement would mean RTÉ would automatically get those rights.
