THE Scottish Football Association will join UK broadcasters at a roundtable discussion aimed at getting Scotland’s international football games on free TV.
The meeting will be chaired by SNP MP Gavin Newlands, who deputises as the party’s spokesperson for sport at Westminster.
Newlands is hoping to broker a solution which will see Scotland’s international matches broadcast on free-to-air television, just like England and Wales games.
The issue came to a head after Scotland’s unexpected triumph over Spain in the Euro qualifiers on March 28. Steve Clarke’s side beat the former world champions 2-0, but fans were only able to watch the game if they had forked out for the Viaplay streaming service.
But on the same day, Wales’s game against Latvia was broadcast for free on the S4C channel. And two days earlier, England’s Euro qualifier against Ukraine had been broadcast live on Channel 4.
The SNP parliamentarian will be joined by representatives from BBC Scotland, BBC Alba, Sky, STV, Channel 4, Viaplay, the SFA, and the Scottish Football Supporters Association to look to address the imbalance.
Newlands, the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said: “I am extremely grateful to all the major broadcasters and representatives from Scottish football who have taken the time to come and discuss this very important issue.
“Scotland fans are being priced out of watching their national team whilst England fans can watch their side for free on Channel 4, and Welsh supporters can see their games on S4C free of charge.
“I want to see a similar offering for Scotland fans. We are seeing one of the best Scotland sides in decades and to inspire the next generation of talent we should not have to get past a paywall to see it.
“Watching Scottish football is becoming even more expensive with the number of subscriptions that fans need just to watch their own team, we need to find a solution so fans can watch Scotland for free.
“I am hopeful for a positive discussion and hope we can find a solution that works both for Scottish football and for fans of the national game.”
