Satellite suppliers and FA lock horns over pub football
Pub satellite TV suppliers have vowed to step up defiance of the Premier League as the row over the screening of Saturday afternoon live football escalates.
Companies say they will be knocking on licensees' doors offering decoder machines and foreign TV station subscription cards despite warnings from the League it is illegal for pubs to show the matches.
The defiant plans to increase sales and marketing activity come as the Premier League calls a summit meeting of major pub companies tomorrow to discuss the crisis.
£50 a monthSupply companies are openly distributing sales flyers to pubs offering a range of package deals, some for as little as £1,500 for six months' viewing and £50 a month thereafter, to enable them to show the Saturday afternoon games.
A number of big managed pub companies are known to have shown Saturday matches in the past.
Two operators, Spirit and Manchester-based Joseph Holt, currently have managers facing prosecution for showing Saturday afternoon games.
We are a bona fide company and have between 2,500 and 3,000 installations across the UK David Richardson of QC Leisure.
The boss of one supplier, David Richardson of north east-based QC Leisure, said his company would be stepping up its sales campaign.
"We are a bona fide company and have between 2,500 and 3,000 installations across the UK including three major pub and leisure chains," he said.
Suppliers remain adamant that showing matches beamed from foreign stations is legal, following two recent court defeats for the Premier League.
One company at the centre of the row, Digital Sales, based at Chorley, Lancashire, said it anticipated a busy summer. Managing director Joe Ibrahim said: "I would like the Premier League to tell us what law they think we are breaking and why it is illegal for licensees to show matches for which they have made a bona fide payment."
ChallengeIbrahim challenged the League to take out a prosecution against his company, saying he would welcome the issue being tested in the High Court. "I know the European Parliament is also keen for the whole thing to be thrashed out," he added.
Tomorrow's meeting between the Premier League and managed pub operators follows a similar meeting two weeks ago when leading trade groups were in attendance.
The League continues to insist that it is illegal for pubs to screen matches obtained through a foreign satellite signal. Saturday afternoon matches are sold by the Premier League to foreign broadcasters on condition they are not beamed into the UK.
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