2022 World Cup for free on Thai TV fiasco rages on

Will footie fans or won’t footie fans get to see the 2022 World Cup for free? That is the question while the fiasco rages on.

The clock is ticking on whether football fans in Thailand will be able to watch the World Cup for free. Last week the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), blamed the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) for the fiasco but today the SAT laid the blame at FIFA’s door.

On Wednesday the NBTC approved a 600 million baht budget to purchase broadcasting rights so Thais could watch the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for free. The catch? Broadcasting rights cost 1.6 billion baht leaving Thailand one billion baht ($US27.2 million) short.

Readers will be scratching their heads as to why a budget was approved that is 1 billion baht short of the asking price. Only in Thailand, eh?

And, with only nine days to go to kick off, the SAT says it can’t afford it and pointed the finger at FIFA saying “it is too expensive!”

SAT governor Kongsak Yodmanee yesterday said he is still trying to negotiate a lower price with FIFA.

Kongsak made known the governing body is still trying to explore ways to find additional funds to purchase the broadcasting rights.

“We last night contacted both FIFA and its agent and told them frankly that the NBTC had agreed to give us only this amount of money. So, we asked them to lower the price more.”

Kongsak added the SAT is also in talks with potential private partners to jointly fund the purchase of the rights.

Kongsak statement comes just one week after Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said that no sponsorship from the private sector was needed for Thailand to make the budget. He also said Thai news had overstated the license fee and it was lower than one billion baht.

Just days before that Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan “confirmed” that Thais would be able to watch the World Cup 2022 for free.

Football fans in Thailand only got to watch the Euros in 2020 because Thai business tycoon Komol Jungrungraengkit stepped in at the last minute and paid 300 million baht (around US$10 million) to buy the media rights.

It looks as if the Thai authorities are looking for a similar knight in shining armour to swoop to the rescue.

It is fair to say the whole process is a mess. Will the Thai people get to watch the 2022 World Cup for free? Time will tell.