KAN to UEFA: We won't broadcast games at all

Israeli public station says it will forfeit airing rights after UEFA says it can't broadcast in West Bank settlements.

By AMY SPIRO
Updated: OCTOBER 9, 2018 03:54
Chelsea v Paris St Germain - UEFA Champions League Second Round Second Leg (photo credit: REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE)
Chelsea v Paris St Germain - UEFA Champions League Second Round Second Leg
(photo credit: REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE)
Israeli public broadcaster KAN said on Monday that if it cannot broadcast the Israeli team’s Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) games in West Bank settlements, it won’t air them at all.
A spokeswoman for KAN told The Jerusalem Post that it sent a letter to UEFA, which controls the media rights to many international soccer competitions, saying it was forfeiting its airing rights. The spokeswoman said Monday afternoon that it had yet to hear back from the international body.
On Sunday, Yediot Aharonot reported that, in its negotiations with KAN, UEFA told the Israeli broadcaster it could not air its games to settlers living in the West Bank. UEFA said it sold the rights for the Middle East and North Africa to a Qatari company, beIN Sports, and those rights include the Palestinian territories.
KAN said it tried to negotiate with UEFA over the issue, but was unsuccessful.
“Sports organizations do not decide the borders of the State of Israel,” Regev said Sunday. “The Israeli public broadcaster financed by the public must fight for the realization of broadcasting rights in Judea and Samaria, and not surrender to the futile demands of the UEFA organization, which gives support to attempts to undermine Israeli sovereignty and calls for delegitimization against the State of Israel.”
KAN’s deal with UEFA – reportedly to the tune of €5 million – included broadcasting all UEFA games featuring the Israeli national team. It was not immediately clear if another broadcaster would try to purchase the rights to those games.