DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT DCMS 135/98                                             25 June 1998                  NEW PROTECTION FOR FOOTBALL ON TELEVISION                    IN REVISION OF LISTED SPORTING EVENTS              Changes for cricket and new protection for rugby   Culture Secretary Chris Smith today announced a revised list of sporting 'Crown Jewels' which must be made available on free-to-air television. This follows Government consideration of the report of Lord Gordon's Advisory Group on the broadcasting of major sports events.      In answer to a Parliamentary Question from Gareth R Thomas MP (Harrow West), Mr Smith said:   My review of the list is now complete. I have conducted it in the light of the criteria which I published last year. I consulted widely on the criteria and the content of the list and I have carefully considered the many representations made to me. I have accepted the general principles of the report produced by the Advisory Group chaired by Lord Gordon of Strathblane.   With immediate effect, I am revising the list of events under Part IV of the Broadcasting Act 1996. I am retaining the following events on the list, requiring live coverage to be made available to free-to-air terrestrial television broadcasters (in Category A as specified in the 1996 Act):      The Olympic Games,      The FIFA World Cup Finals Tournament,      The FA Cup Final,      The Scottish FA Cup Final (in Scotland),      The Grand National,      The Derby and      The Wimbledon Tennis Finals.       I am adding the following events to the list on the same basis:      The European Football Championship Finals Tournament,      The Rugby League Challenge Cup Final and      The Rugby World Cup Final.   I have also concluded that many of the matches in the World Cup and European Championships football qualifying tournaments meet the criteria for listing. I believe that it is important that crucial ties in these competitions should be available to all viewers and I therefore intend to seek Europe-wide arrangements for protecting free-to-air live broadcasts of crucial matches in these competitions.   I am also listing some further events on a different understanding. For these events, I have recommended to the Independent Television Commission that live coverage might be allowed to be shown exclusively by a Category B broadcaster (as specified in the 1996 Act), provided there are satisfactory arrangements for secondary coverage by a Category A broadcaster. I have asked the ITC to consider setting a minimum acceptable standard for such secondary coverage, to include some combination of delayed full coverage, highlights and live radio commentary.       The events I am listing on this understanding are:      Cricket Test Matches played in England,      Non-Finals play in the Wimbledon Tournament,      All Other Matches in the Rugby World Cup Finals Tournament,      Five Nations Rugby Tournament Matches Involving Home Countries,      The Commonwealth Games,      The World Athletics Championship,      The Cricket World Cup - the Final, Semi-finals and Matches      Involving Home Nations' Teams,      The Ryder Cup, and      The Open Golf Championship.    Commenting on his decisions, Chris Smith said that the list had been reviewed in the light of clear and transparent criteria and followed extensive consultation:     _base_d on the innovative central principles of the Gordon recommendations, the changes add several major sports events to the list - most for the first time - and give sports bodies and broadcasters new opportunities in negotiating contracts.   My decision to accept the Gordon recommendations on cricket allows the sport more freedom to negotiate a fair price for its flagship events. This is something for which the ECB and County Cricket clubs have specifically asked. I expect to see that freedom used responsibly, with continued access for all viewers to a substantial proportion of live Test coverage and any new income derived for cricket devoted to improvements in the facilities needed to play the game and to raise our standards. If these expectations - especially the test of achieving substantial live coverage on free-to-air television - are not fulfilled, then I may of course need to review the listed criteria again.    The Department for Culture, Media & Sport is now discussing the Group B _frame_work with the Independent Television Commission, which is responsible for administering the list. The list will be reviewed regularly in the future. Notes to Editors 1.  The list is maintained under Part IV of the Broadcasting Act 1996. Exclusive live coverage of listed events by sub_script_ion broadcasters is not allowed unless the rights are made available to a generally-available free-to-air channel (the BBC, the ITV Network and Channel 4), and vice versa. The list was last reviewed in 1991 and included the following events:      The Olympic Games      The FIFA World Cup Finals      The FA Cup Final      The Scottish FA Cup Final (listed only in Scotland)      Cricket Test matches involving England      Wimbledon Tennis Tournament (finals weekend only currently      listed) The Grand National      The Derby 2. The advisory group chaired by Lord Gordon of Strathblane CBE announced its report on 20 March. The group recommended a two tier regulatory _frame_work. The existing protection for full live coverage of all of the events previously listed - plus certain matches in the European Football Championships, but not including Test matches and early round matches not featuring a Home Nations' team in the FIFA World Cup - should remain (Group A events). It proposed that a second tier of events that do not fully meet the criteria, or that meet all of the criteria but present scheduling difficulties to general terrestrial channels, should be created (Group B events), and that exclusive live coverage of such events should be permitted on a sub_script_ion channel provided that adequate arrangements are made for delayed coverage or highlights on a free-to-air, terrestrial channel. The proposed Group B events included all Test matches and the remaining matches in the FIFA World Cup and European Football Championships.