Brussels, 20/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission felt that the regulations adopted in July 2000 by UEFA concerning the broadcasting of football matches do not enter into the scope of application of the European competition rules. Regulations authorise, on an individual and voluntary basis, the national football associations to block the broadcasting of televised football matches during two and a half hours on Saturday and Sunday, in order not to have a negative effect on attendance at stadiums nor the participation of amateurs in this sport.
This decision in no way affects the situation that already prevailed. In practice, out of 212 national football associations in the EEA, only 10 have opted for the block timetables this season. For example, no English television channel will broadcast football matches between 14: 45pm and 17: 15pm on Saturday, while the Belgian football association chose to block the broadcasting times of 19: 30pm to 22: 00pm, also on Saturday. This means that a certain time, the broadcaster may be deprived of the possibility of broadcasting live football matches. The Commission reached the conclusion, when taking into account the specific characteristics of the UEFA regulations and by analysing the market situation, that this effect could not be considered to constitute a significant restriction to competition.
The Commission also concluded that the regulations in terms of broadcasting would not significantly affect cross-border broadcasting, given that they only apply to the so-called "voluntary" broadcasts, that is to say the broadcasts produced specifically from a given territory in terms of language or content. In addition most of the broadcasters only want to broadcast a sporting event on the territory of a single national football association.
This decision does not affect the assessment of the joint sale of broadcasting rights by the national football associations, which is presently the object of another Commission investigation.