Broadcast blackout under review

Uefa is in talks with the English and Spanish Football Associations about Eleven Sports’ breach of the traditional Saturday afternoon broadcast blackout in Britain.

The streaming service, founded by Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani, has twice shown La Liga games at 3.15pm on Saturdays in recent weeks, despite Uefa’s article 48 banning the broadcast of live football between 2.45pm and 5.15pm.

However, that rule, which has been in place since the late 1950s, is now only enforced in Scotland, England and Montenegro, where many still believe it encourages fans to actually attend matches or play amateur football.

Speaking to reporters at the Leaders Sport Business Summit, Radrizzani said Eleven had La Liga’s support and would continue to stream Spanish games during the blackout window.

He also said he was hoping to be able to stream Serie A games on Saturday afternoons too. Eleven recently showed a Juventus game that kicked off at 5pm, but with audio commentary only for the first 15 minutes.

It is understood European football’s governing body Uefa is trying to resolve the issue without the FA making a formal complaint. A spokesperson for English football’s national governing body said: “We are aware of the matter and are looking into it through the appropriate channels.”