SAT says purchase of Euro 2024 football broadcast rights is not its job
Purchasing of rights to broadcast UEFA European Football Championship matches, also known as Euro 2024, is not the responsibility of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) and must therefore be carried out by the private sector, the sport agency said on Friday.
SAT spokesperson Somjaros Mingkhamlert said the tournament, scheduled from June 14-July 14 in Germany, was not included in the “must have, must carry” rule.
The rule, enforced by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC), mandates free TV broadcast of seven major sports competitions – the FIFA World Cup, Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, SEA Games, Asian Games, Asian Para Games, and ASEAN Para Games.
Under the rule, the NBTC would grant funds to the SAT to purchase broadcasting rights of those events, to ensure that all Thais can watch them on free TV.
In March last year, the NBTC voted in approval of the move to scrap the "must have, must carry rule" following public criticism that taxpayers’ money was spent to purchase broadcasting rights of sport programmes that the Thailand national team was not even part of.
The revocation of the rule, however, has not been officially announced.
In April, the website uefa.com announced a list of countries that have successfully negotiated the purchase of Euro 2024 broadcasting rights, as well as the names of the licensees. Five ASEAN countries — Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam — are on that list, but not Thailand.
