UEFA unite with Club Forum against EC “news access” proposal

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The European Club Forum (ECF), a body representing 102 European clubs, has joined UEFA in opposing the proposal of the European Commission (EC) to grant third parties a legal right to make “short reports” of football matches and the provision a new news access right as part of the Television without Frontiers Directive. Both UEFA and ECF believe that the existing law in Europe on this matter already regulates the extent to which broadcasters obtain footage of matches for legitimate news reporting purposes. UEFA and ECF are particularly concerned on the impact of the EC proposal in the area of internet and mobile telephone rights. They believe that giving third parties a legal right to make short reports delivered via these platforms could destroy the value of any new media rights exploited by the clubs themselves and/or by other rights holders.

UEFA chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson said: “We have reached an agreement with the clubs over our opposition to the provision of a “news access” right as part of the “Television without Frontiers” Directive. This approach to “news access” has nothing to do with freedom of information but rather everything to do with the commercial use of short extracts. We are not opposed in any way to the freedom of information but in this context the directive would directly harm the rights holders and the ability of European football to generate its own income, the majority of which is re-distributed back to the game itself.”