Thailand to rethink ‘must have’ rule after World Cup broadcast chaos
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) plans to review its “must have” rule after approving a budget of 600 million baht to purchase rights to broadcast the 2022 Fifa World Cup.
The “must have” rule, which dictates that World Cup matches must be broadcast for free across all platforms in Thailand, deterred private broadcasters from buying the rights.
With less than two weeks to go before the tournament kicks off on November 20, the NBTC finally stepped in on Wednesday to secure the broadcast rights with 600 million baht.
However, Fifa is demanding 1.6 billion baht for the broadcast rights, leaving the Sports Authority of Thailand scrambling to find the extra money before the opening match in eight days. Thai advertisers are also delaying their plans for the World Cup as they wait to see the outcome of negotiations for the rights.
Trairat Viriyasirikul, acting NBTC secretary-general, admitted on Friday that the “must have” rule will have to be revised as it is disrupting business operations.
He said it was not the NBTC’s duty to purchase World Cup rights every four years, adding that the problematic rule should be amended to reflect the proliferation of broadcast platforms in Thailand.
Trairat explained the National Sports Development Fund was authorised to buy broadcast rights for events at which Thai athletes compete, such as the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Southeast Asian Games, Asean Para Games, Asian Games and Asian Para Games.
However, the “must have” rule should not apply to the Fifa World Cup unless the Thailand national team is competing, he said.
The NBTC will sign over the 600 million baht to the Sports Authority of Thailand to purchase the World Cup rights on Monday.
Related stories
