Call for Scotland qualifiers to be shown on free-to-air TV

A Holyrood committee has called for Scotland’s World Cup and European Championship qualifiers to be shown on free-to-air television.

Members of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee raised the coverage of the Scotland men’s and women’s international football teams on the main free-to-air terrestrial broadcasters at meetings earlier this year.

They questioned the BBC Director General, BBC Scotland and Ofcom.

On Monday, the committee’s chair, Clare Adamson MSP, sent a letter to Scotland’s culture secretary, Angus Robertson, asking the Scottish Government to look at the issue.

The committee is calling for the fixtures to be added to a list of “Group A” events that would require them to be broadcast outwith a pay-per-view or subscription based model.

The Broadcasting Act 1996 gives the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport the power to draw up a list of sporting events of “national interest”.

The events in Group A, which require full coverage to be offered to free-to-air broadcasters, include the World Cup and European championships, as well as the Scottish Cup final, but qualifying matches are not currently included.

The committee raised the possibility of all qualifiers, including the men’s and women’s international teams, being added to that list.

Adamson, the SNP MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw, said: “The committee invites you to set out the Scottish Government’s view on potentially including expanding the specific Scottish events covered under the listed events regime, to include in Group A, not just the Scottish FA Cup final, but also Scotland’s World Cup and European Championship qualifiers.”