Polsat faces investigation over plans for broadcasting World Cup finals

The National Radio and Television Council (KRRiTV) said yesterday that it plans to examine whether Polsat would be in violation of FIFA regulations if it goes ahead with plans to broadcast matches from the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea on its pay channel. The KRRiTV move follows the announcement by Polsat CEO Zygmunt Solorz that the matches would be shown only on Polsat Sport, which viewers need a special encoder to watch. Referring to the FIFA regulation that World Cup matches must be available free to viewers Solorz, who has paid more than $20 million for exclusive rights to broadcast the championships in Poland, insists, "This law does not concern us, because we obtained the broadcast rights before it came into effect. And the law doesn't work backwards." Commenting on the case, FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren stated that anyone who violates the regulations will face stiff penalties. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 28; Zycie, p. 12) A.K.