SNP MP Pete Wishart has said he hopes there is “meaningful discussion” around the coverage of the Scotland national men’s team.
It was announced on Thursday morning that the broadcaster will no longer fulfil their commitment to showcasing UK sport.
This leaves the Scottish League Cup and national team games seemingly facing a TV blackout.
Wishart, the MP for Perth and North Perthshire, has been vocal in the past about his desire for Scotland fans to be able to watch the national team on TV free of charge.
Reacting to the news about Viaplay, he told The National: “Members of the Scottish Affairs Committee met the Viaplay UK team recently and they gave no sense of any difficulty.
“In fact they were boasting about the numbers they were securing when it came to Scottish viewers watching the international football teams and gave every impression this would be continuing.”
The MP has previously called for an arrangement to be made between the rights holders to games and public service broadcasters to look to make sure some of the most important games are broadcast on free-to-access TV.
“We talked about arrangements for sharing rights but what this does not is offer a re-assessment about how international football games can be broadcast at all times to ensure the SFA get the commercial value they need in order to invest in grassroots sports and resource itself properly”, the MP said.
He added: “We made a number of recommendations about how this could be taken forward and I now hope there is meaningful discussions about securing free-to-air access while making sure the vital interests of the team are respected.
“Looking at what’s happened this morning, the only glimpse of reasonably good news is we have an opportunity to ensure all things are properly resolved and considered.
“We’ve got several months in which this can be worked out and I hope we can take advantage of the time available to us and come to a solution which suits the fans, the SFA and the men’s team.”
Meanwhile, SNP MP Gavin Newlands has written to both BBC Scotland and STV asking them to “urgently explore” potential options which may have been opened up by the news.
He said: “This is not the first time this has happened to Scottish football. The Setanta collapse some years back had a major financial impact on our clubs’ finances, and we have to ensure history does not repeat itself.”
The MP continued: “My understanding is that Viaplay intend to sell of or sublicence their UK sports rights packages, including the deals to cover the League Cup, Scottish Cup, Scotland’s men’s team matches, and UEFA qualifiers from other nations, as part of their global restructuring exercise.
“This presents an opportunity for Scottish broadcasters to work with Viaplay to bring men’s national team games back to free to air television, as well as ensuring both cups continue to be broadcast for fans without a paywall.”
The Scottish Greens have also reacted to the news with the party’s spokesperson for sports Gillian Mackay saying: “Steve Clarke has done an amazing job with the Scotland men’s team. Yet so many of the most inspiring moments have been hidden behind a costly paywall.
“If Viacom is to stop showing Scottish international matches it is a major opportunity for the Scottish Football Association and broadcasters to work together to ensure that a deal is reached to broadcast future matches for free in homes across Scotland.
“Our national team is for all of us, but, especially in this cost of living crisis, far too many people are being priced out of our beautiful game. Many countries already ensure their games are free to view. Scotland should join them.”
Viaplay CEO Jorgen Madsen Lindemann said: “We are today announcing a new strategy and plan, which includes, but is not limited to, focusing on our core Nordic, Netherlands and Viaplay Select operations (which make available a wide range of Viaplay series, films and documentaries through partners around the world); implementing a new operational model; downsizing, partnering or exiting our other international markets; rightsizing and pricing our product offering in the Nordics; undertaking a major cost reduction program; and conducting an immediate strategic review of the entire business to consider all options, including content sublicensing, asset disposals, equity injections or the sale of the whole group.”
