Brussels, 06/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Audio-visual Observatory has published a study on the insertion of advertising spots during the transmission of football matches during the 2002 World Cup. This study confirms the different practices according to the country. The majority of spectators only see advertising at half-time but spectators in four countries (Spain, Italy, Ireland and certain regions of Belgium) see advertising spots throughout the match and even during free kicks, corners, when the game is at a standstill and during player changes. This study reflects: 1) The absence of unanimity of national legal experts on European legal provisions in the area (the Television without Borders Directive and the European Convention on Trans-border television and especially the authorisation or not of diffusing short adverts during the transmission of sporting events; 2) The possibility that certain provisions have not been correctly applied in European legislation.