PBS 'planned' not to air England game

'During this meeting, it was revealed that the agreement signed between PBS and Melita plc meant that PBS was not going to broadcast one of the quarter-finals matches, which would have been shown only on Melita Digital.

However, this was in violation of a Legal Notice issued by the Broadcasting Authority in 2006 on Major Events which are of importance to society which stipulated that the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, the final and the match for the third and fourth place of the FIFA World Cup had to be shown free to air.

After a discussion in the SAC, Melita’s legal representative announced that it was going to renounce for exclusivity on this game so that it is also shown on PBS.

On his part, Acting PBS CEO Natalino Fenech said that he had no objection to broadcasting the quarter-final game on PBS too but he had to get clearance from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to do so.

Fenech told the SAC that GO had also presented an application for the sub-letting of 18 games by PBS, however they had not presented a bid-bond with the application, therefore it was disqualified.

After a request by Labour MP Chris Cardona, the contracts between PBS and the EBU and that between PBS and Melita were tabled at the Committee’s table.

The issue exploded after thousands of fans were fuming yesterday when PBS chose not to air the England vs Germany game and instead conceded the rights to Melita.

It emerged from this mornings meeting that PBS had 'planned' not to broadcast the game, a decision that has benefitted a private company given that many were left with no option but to hurriedly subscribe at a cost with Melita Digital to be able to watch the game.