Albanian TV firm warns against footy decoder cards
An Albanian satellite TV company has issued a warning against UK pubs over using its cards to show Premier League football.
Tring TV, which has the rights to show matches in Albania, said it is aware of a "problem" in the UK where pubs are using its decoder cards to screen games.
The company has warned licensees it will immediately switch off any of its cards it finds being used "illegally" in the UK.
In a letter to licensees, the company states: "Tring TV is the Premier League's licensee for the territory of Albania.
"We do not have any rights to broadcast Premier League football outside of this territory. Subsequently our Tring TV cards are not allowed to be sold outside of this territory and no person in the United Kingdom can make a payment to us or any supplier to view in the UK."
Sky Italia, which like Sky in the UK is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, issued a similar warning to pubs last summer.
The next chapter in the long-running foreign satellite football saga is set to unfold on Thursday (February 3), when an advocate general at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will give her opinion on the issue.
This opinion will then be weighed-up by judges at the ECJ, before their judgement is sent back to the UK's High Court for consideration.
