The Premier League is considering suspending or terminating its broadcast deals with Russian TV partners.
English football’s top flight is broadcast by Okko Sport in Russia but that deal is likely to be cancelled following the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Global sports are turning on Russia as Vladimir Putin continues his assault on Ukraine. Fifa has banned Russian national teams and clubs from competing in international tournaments while Uefa stripped the Champions League final from St Petersburg.
Uefa also ended its lucrative sponsorship deal with Gazprom, the Russia state owned energy company, while Manchester United terminated a contrary with Aeroflot, the Russian airline.
More from Football
Three billionaires, Saudi royalty and a UFC star… meet the investors who could buy Chelsea03 March, 2022
Abramovich is unlikely to prevent damage to his reputation with charitable Chelsea sale03 March, 2022
Neville: Premier League should not shut itself off to investors like Abramovich and the Saudis03 March, 2022The Premier League is now taking action and is looking to restrict access to live games in Russia while the war continues.
“Clearly broadcast contracts in Russia are under review,” Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told the Financial Times Business of Football Summit. “We’re looking at suspension or termination.”
He added: “It’s happening now. We’re looking at a fast-moving situation.”
Masters was asked whether the fact that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is potentially facing sanctions from the UK Government made a mockery of the league’s owners’ and directors’ test.
“I don’t think so. The test has been under a lot of scrutiny for the last 12 months and we’re looking at it again,” he said.
“As part of our process in responding to the fan-led review we’re looking at whether more tests need to be added, whether we need to be more transparent about those decisions and whether independent scrutiny really needs to be put on top of it.”
Asked whether there could be a human rights element in the future, Masters said: “We have had some helpful conversations with Amnesty International about those sort of things. I’m not going to say how it should change yet, because really it should be one test for football.”
Additional reporting by Press Association
from Football | News and analysis from the Premier League and beyond | iNews https://ift.tt/zo7JWXE
Post a Comment