By

Charles Sale




PUBLISHED:


23:00, 27 September 2013




|



UPDATED:


23:59, 27 September 2013


The Champions League, European football’s flagship club tournament, may not be shown live on terrestrial television in the UK in future.


Concern over this – especially within current rights holders ITV – has been raised by UEFA awarding exclusive coverage in France to subscription network beIN Sport, owned by Qatar-based TV broadcast giants Al Jazeera.


Under threat: The Champions League may not be shown on terrestrial TV in the future

Under threat: The Champions League may not be shown on terrestrial TV in the future



Anxious wait: ITV's broadcasting team, led by presenter Adrian Chiles (right)

Anxious wait: ITV’s broadcasting team, led by presenter Adrian Chiles (right)



The tender for the UK, due to be launched next week by UEFA’s marketing agents TEAM, will detail the way the rights packages are going to be sold over the next three-year cycle from 2015. But there is no obligation – with the Champions League not a TV-listed event – for UEFA to sell to free-to-air channels.


And with Sky and BT Sport almost certain to be the highest bidders, UEFA could decide to maximise the value of the rights in their richest territory by sharing the packages between the two rival subscription channels. That could be worth over £1billion to UEFA compared to the £400m that Sky and ITV paid for the present deal that runs until the end of next season.


But ITV will hope that live terrestrial coverage is still regarded as crucial by UEFA and that France is a special case because of the Qatari influence. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund own Paris St-Germain and it is reported political pressure was put on France’s UEFA president Michel Platini to vote for a Qatar World Cup.


Thing of the past? The Champions League has been shown live on ITV since its inception

Thing of the past? The Champions League has been shown live on ITV since its inception



Shameless publicity-seeking bookmakers Boylesports claimed to have cut the odds on Sir Alex Ferguson becoming the next permanent manager of the Republic of Ireland from 66-1 to 20-1 following a ‘flood of large bets’. This despite £2m-a-year United ambassador and director Ferguson making it clear he has retired from football management and the Republic of Ireland having made no approaches to him or considered doing so.


Publishers Hodder & Stoughton are planning a Harry Potter-style book launch to maximise the impact of Sir Alex Ferguson’s autobiography.


There will be no copies made available to the media until just three hours before the former Manchester United manager holds a press conference at the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall on October 23 – the day before publication. This is similar to tactics used by Bloomsbury to keep the contents of JK Rowling’s books a secret until a stage-managed moment when all is revealed.


Book launch: Sir Alex Ferguson's autobiography is on the way next month

Book launch: Sir Alex Ferguson’s autobiography is on the way next month



Wembley have ambitions to be the home of an NFL franchise and even stage a Super Bowl. However, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell can’t have European expansion too high on his agenda as he has not travelled over for Wembley’s hosting of Minnesota Vikings v Pittsburgh Steelers tomorrow.


MCC’s resident plan


It has emerged MCC, who rejected tower block flats inside Lord’s despite £100m on offer from property developers, have themselves looked at residential building.


A pre-planning application for four sizeable multi-storey constructions on the site of the ECB offices went to Westminster City Council last December, but wasn’t approved. An MCC spokesman said: ‘We examined all options, including residential, but it didn’t stack up.’


No-go: England and Australia play in front of the MCC at Lord's earlier this month

No-go: England and Australia play in front of the MCC at Lord’s earlier this month



Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis has had to take a pay cut with club accounts showing he was paid £1.92m in the last financial year compared to £2.15m previously, with his annual bonus dropping by £275,000. However, Gazidis is still the third best paid administrator at a Premier League club, behind Manchester United’s Ed Woodward and City’s Ferran Soriano.


There’s a theory inside Twickenham that Manchester United’s U-turn over hosting three 2015 Rugby World Cup matches followed Sir Alex Ferguson seeing Dublin’s Aviva Stadium pitch cut up badly during England’s game against Ireland there last February.


Fergie’s concerns started after the groundsman criticised the damage done when England played Argentina in Manchester in 2009. United host two rugby league games this autumn — the Premiership Grand Final and the World Cup final — but the 13-a-side code is not considered to be a problem for the Desso pitch.




Comments (54)


Share what you think







The comments below have been moderated in advance.













david99,


kirkcaldy, United Kingdom,


5 hours ago


Will whoever takes over sack Adrian CHILES? PLEASE!!!













billmet,


southport,


5 hours ago


Dont care, I watch live streaming for free.













SirHenryNorris,


Woolwich, United Kingdom,


5 hours ago


@Dennis, Cambridge – UK You are an example of everything wrong with the modern day fan! Thinks football is a TV programme! You probably support a ’big’ club no where near Cambridge and if you’ve seen them ’live’ (Sky doesn’t count) more than three times, I’d be very surprised.













Harry,


Surrey,


5 hours ago


Good. ITV are terrible. Give it to Sky













David,


Dunmow, United Kingdom,


5 hours ago


Hooray we might finally get rid of Chiles from our primetime screens & maybe he could take Bleakley with him to QVC or similar channels where they belong.













lifelongred,


UpNorth,


5 hours ago


Do these customers of BT currently receiving BT Sport for free not realise that the company will hike the prices as SKY have?













The ungagged,


Bham,


6 hours ago


It is not being shown on ITV and will definitely not be shown on BBC. So what ?

It is only for FOUR sets of English fans only and it will be only the game that suffers. Fans of clubs should start boycotting the game as I have done because they do not give a stuff about you only your money.

It will not be too far away when there is not even a highlights program on terrestrial TV because they will want too much money.

Crowds are falling so fans should boycott NOW !!!













eddie,


Canterbury, United Kingdom,


6 hours ago


I like him, he actually speaks his mind and puts Lee Dixon and Southgate to task if he disagrees. Football punditry is about debate.













ForeverRed,


Salford,


6 hours ago


The most concerning thing about this is the link between the French, Qatar, PSG and platini!! The future FIFA president and current uefa one! So much for FFP! Sickening…uefa and FIFA wot be happy until they run football into the ground!













Jay,


Loughton, United Kingdom,


6 hours ago


It’s all about the money money money…





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