The National Broadcasting & Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) of Thailand has reportedly given the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) until December 21 to return the 600 million baht (US$16 million) the regulator granted to SAT to purchase the 2022 FIFA World Cup broadcast rights for Thailand.
According to NBTC, SAT has breached the “must-carry” rule, which stipulated that all members of the public in Thailand be granted access to all 64 matches of the World Cup on all free TV platforms, including Internet Protocol TV (IPTV).
With IPTV platforms still drawing blank screens, NBTC has demanded that SAT return the full sum of 600 million baht and said a warning was issued in writing to SAT in November, before the World Cup started, to ensure that all matches are made available to all free TV platforms, including IPTV.
In response, SAT Governor Kongsak Yodmanee refuted NTBC’s charge that the “must-carry” rule was violated, and claimed that SAT has strictly complied with the rule and all other NBTC regulations. He added SAT is waiting for a formal letter from the NBTC before responding to every issue raised.The 600-million-baht fund, which came from the NBTC’s Broadcasting & Telecommunication Research and Development Fund, is just a portion of the 1.6 billion baht (US$37.5 million) that the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), football’s governing body, charged Thailand for broadcast rights of the Qatar World Cup.