Row erupts over Thailand’s unfair allocation of World Cup games

After almost a month of, will Thailand get to watch World Cup for free or not was resolved just in the nick of time for the first game but now a new row has erupted over the unfair allocation of showing the games.

The Association of Digital Television Broadcasting (ADTEB) slammed the Sports Authority of Thailand’s (SAT) allocation of World Cup 2022 matches for being unfair and officially protested to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

The SAT’s decision to award True Corporation the right to pick up to 32 World Cup matches it wants to air ahead of other broadcasters was criticised as “completely unfair” by the ADTEB.

True Corporation was one of the major sponsors who answered calls to help the government bridge the shortfall to purchase the broadcasting rights for the World Cup.

Government departments managed to come up with about 1 billion baht but it was still some 400 million baht short of FIFA’s asking price.

The SAT was forced to find sponsors to plug the gap with just three days left before the matches kicked off on Sunday.

True Corporation, Thai Beverage, and PTT, all answered the SAT’s call and chipped in the necessary funds so Thailand’s footie fans could watch the World Cup for free.

The SAT governor, Kongsak Yodmanee, yesterday said the agency’s decision to award True Corporation first pick of the matches was fair and dismissed ADTEB’s criticisms.

True Corporation was allowed to pick first as it had contributed 300 million baht to help the SAT buy the rights, more than half of the money provided by other private sponsors put together.

“The main sponsor deserves priority.”

Kongsak also added that that the rights to the other 32 matches were awarded to 17 TV channels in a draw.

Follow the World Cup with The Thaiger. HERE are all the World Cup fixtures. And if you’re feeling a bit nostalgic about past World Cup competitions why not book tickets for An Evening with Paul “Gazza” Gascoigne, who is in Pattaya, Phuket, and Bangkok this week?