TV Row
FOOTBALL Task Force chairman David Mellor yesterday welcomed the decision by Premier League chiefs to reject Sky TV's plans for pay-per-view television.
The move was surprisingly booted out following a two-day meeting in Leicester yesterday.
Premier League chief executive Peter Leaver said he wanted to ''consider all of the issues in detail and to act in the best interests of the game and its supporters.''
He indicated that any move to pay-per-view would be premature. The issues had not been thought through.
In cash talks about Rupert Murdoch's Sky's plan, a sum of up to #16m for a one-year experiment was said to have been mooted.
Welcoming the decision to reject Sky's proposals, Mr Mellor said: ''I'm very pleased the Premier League chairmen have come to this decision. It's certainly to their credit.
''Introducing pay-per-view at this stage would have been totally premature. The #16m was nowhere near enough money to justify selling the birthright of our national game to the Murdoch shilling.
''The proposals seemed like a destruction of all the traditions of football in England. There is now a genuine concern among fans that everything they hold dear is being destroyed.
''Moving matches from Saturdays and short notice changes to match times are cases in point.
''There has been an erosion in the traditions of Saturday afternoon matches and the Premier League was facing genuine anger and dismay from the fans."
Maurice Watkins, Manchester United director and solicitor, who attended the meeting, admitted the chairmen were not happy with Sky's plans.
Chairman Martin Edwards, ironically, had predicted the proposals would be given the green light, but Watkins said: ''We heard the recommendations today and decided not to proceed on the basis of what was put to us.
''We did not take a vote, but we were not aware of any dissenters. There were a number of things we were unhappy with and obviously one had to look at the matter as a whole.
''Pay-per-view is envisaged by the current agreement with BSkyB, but obviously that can only go ahead with the mutual agreement of both parties.
''No doubt there will be further discussions about it.''
While yesterday's decision represents a short-term victory for the fans, pay-per-view television looks set be introduced in the year 2001, when Sky's current deal with the Premier League expires.
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