Consultation on making national football qualifiers free to air to be launched

The Scottish Government is to launch a consultation on qualifying matches for Scotland’s national football teams being broadcast free to air, the First Minister has said.

Humza Yousaf said an evaluation will take place as part of making the case to the UK Government that the events should be part of the list of those protected for free-to-air broadcast on terrestrial TV.

Scotland matches in major men’s and women’s tournaments are on the protected list but qualifiers are not, and the consultation will examine the case to change that.

European football’s governing body Uefa holds the rights to these matches and they are often sold to the highest bidder, meaning they can end up behind a paywall.

The successful Euro 2024 qualifying campaign by the Scotland’s men’s football team was broadcast by Nordic streaming service Viaplay, meaning many armchair fans missed out on the chance to watch.

Mr Yousaf said: “The Scottish Government is taking a further step towards making major Scotland international football matches available free to air, which would allow the whole country to get behind our national teams in important qualifying fixtures.

“Scots celebrated as our men’s national team charged their way on scintillating form into this year’s Euro Championships and we’ll all be behind the women’s national team when their qualifiers get under way next month, but most Scots are blocked from watching the national team with the bulk of games shown on a pay-per-view basis.

“With so much at stake in qualifiers, our vision is for all fans to be able to watch their national teams as they battle to reach the world’s biggest competitions.”

He said if Scotland was independent, the Scottish Government could determine which events should be broadcast free to air but broadcasting policy is currently reserved to Westminster.

He added: “With the UK Government refusing to act to resolve the situation for Scotland fans, the Scottish Government will launch a consultation on the issue to help progress the campaign to ensure Scotland international qualifying matches are on terrestrial TV.

“Further evaluation work will be taken forward to understand the implications such a decision would have for rights holders, including the SFA, before the Scottish Government’s case is brought forward to the UK Government.”

The Scottish Government plans to publish further details on the consultation this summer.

SNP MP Gavin Newlands, who has been spearheading the campaign, said: “I am delighted the Scottish Government is taking this tremendous step and carrying out serious work on something which every supporter in Scotland has a stake in.

“The UK Government has continuously stonewalled my questions on this issue by telling me sport is a devolved matter – despite broadcasting clearly being reserved to Westminster.

“I’ve been clear throughout my campaign that there are no easy or quick answers to ensuring free access while protecting incomes that help support footballs grassroots, but the Scottish Government’s action this weekend is an important one.”

Attempts by Mr Newlands to have the Scotland men’s and women’s football team qualifiers added to the list of protected broadcasts as an amendment to the UK Government’s Media Bill was voted down by MPs earlier this year.

The UK Government was contacted for comment.