Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of awarding European football viewing rights to streaming platforms for free on access to sport.

The Secretary of State has not made any assessment on the potential impact of awarding European Football viewing rights to streaming platforms for free on access to sport.

The Government does not own or have the ability to award the streaming rights for competitions run by private entities, such as FIFA or UEFA.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring access to a number of sporting events, including European football, so that they can be enjoyed by a wide audience. However, this must also be balanced with the ability of sports national governing bodies and rights holders to generate revenue to invest in their sports at all levels. Broadcasting rights provide essential income for these organisations.

All UK broadcasters are operationally and editorially independent of the Government. Therefore decisions relating to coverage of particular sporting events, including European football are ultimately a commercial decision for the relevant broadcaster and/or the rights holder of the specific sporting event.