Fans Call On Government To Solve Premier League Broadcast Deadlock
#LetUsWatch calls on ministers to intervene and ensure match-going fans can watch their teams this season.
Football supporters have launched a new campaign called #LetUsWatch after it was announced that almost half of the Premier League’s 2020/21 fixtures will not be broadcast live to UK audiences during 2020/21 despite games only taking place behind-closed-doors until October.
It’s understood that 160 of the season’s 380 games would not be broadcast live to UK audiences during 2020/21. The Premier League and its broadcasters are preventing UK fans from watching their team during a global pandemic despite supporters across the globe having access to all games.
The new season is due to kick-off on the 12th September, however, only limited numbers of fans will be admitted to stadiums due to public health measures associated with the spread of coronavirus.
Guidance from the Sports Ground Safety Authority’s Planning for social distancing at sports grounds indicates that capacities will be restricted to between 17%-33% of current limits, dependent upon local implementation.
The Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) said it means hundreds of thousands of season ticket holders and regular match-goers will have no legal means to watch their team.
Kevin Miles, chief executive of the FSA, said: “With the clock ticking towards the start of the new Premier League season, hundreds of thousands of match-going fans are facing the prospect of not being able to watch their team play – for some of them, the first games they’ll have missed in decades.
“Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and those in the positions of power and influence – in this case the Premier League, clubs, broadcasters, and politicians to sort this out.
“We need fans excluded through capacity reductions or health considerations to be able to see the games. It’s not in anyone’s interests to have a situation where fans feel they have no other option but to resort to illegal pirate broadcast streams.”
The FSA is asking fans to contact the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport ministers Oliver Downden MP and Nigel Huddleston MP, to encourage them to intervene and ensure the Premier League broadcasts all fixtures to season ticket holders and committed match-goers while stadium capacities are reduced.
Image: PA Images
