The dispute over broadcasting rights of Super League--Vietnam’s top football tournament, has continued after the New Year holiday when digital TV service provider AVG demanded compensation from TV station VTC, for broadcasting the live match between Vissai Ninh Binh and Dong Thap on January 1.

VPF Board of Director’s vice director Nguyen Duc Kien.

According to AVG’s dispatch sent to VTC on January 3, by broadcasting the match, VTC violated the 20-year agreement of exclusive TV rights that AVG signed with the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) in late 2010.

Meanwhile, VFF’s partner Vietnam Professional Football (VPF) Company, which is in charge of marketing and sales and organization of top football leagues in Vietnam, the deal between AVG and VFF has been voided because it violated Vietnam’s sport law.

AVG asked VTC to make a public apology on local media and pay compensations and make clear personal responsibility of VTC’s Deputy General Vu Quang Huy in this case.

VTC Deputy General Vu Quang Huy said that VTC had received a document from VPF, the organizer of the Super League to allow VTC to broadcast the match and others.

VTC said that it will wait until the TV rights dispute between AVG, VFF and VPF to be solved to take action.

The TV rights dispute got tense before the Super League and the First Division Tournament, two top professional football events in Vietnam, opened in January 2012. Almost all TV stations disagreed with AVG’s proposals.

Three days before the Super League and the First Division Tournament began, when the national broadcaster VTV, VTC and Hanoi Television (HTV) could not reach an agreement with AVG, VPF unexpectedly issued a dispatch that temporarily allows TV broadcasters to air football matches until it releases a new dispatch. VPF’s dispatch was strongly protested by AVG. 

After VPF issued the dispatch, VTV worked with AVG on the broadcast plan of the first round of the Super League and the First Division Tournament while VTC did not and air live the first match of the Super League on January 1.

On January 4, the three sides in the dispute, - VFF, VPF and AVG – sent their dispatches. 

VFF sent a dispatch to VPF and related agency to confirm its ownership of the TV right of Super League and First Division Tournament, citing some articles in the Law on Sports. VFF confirmed that VFF transferred the right to manage and organize the two leagues to its member (meaning VPF). VPF must perform the right under the instruction and decision of VFF, as FIFA’s regulations.

VPF sent a dispatch to the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Ministry of Information and Communications to ask these ministries to consider the legitimacy of the deal between VFF and AVG.

In this dispatch, VPF said that VFF and AVG broke the law when they signed the deal. VPF pointed out that Article 53 of the Law on Sports and Article 12 of Decree 112 says that VFF and FCs hold the TV right of professional football leagues. However, VFF did not have the approval of FCs in signing the deal with AVG.

Moreover, when AVG inked the deal on December 8, 2010, AVG was a company that is only allowed to transmit and broadcast TV programs, not a television station. This firm, therefore, had no right to perform press activities and produce press works (here are football games).

The same day, AVG issued a press release on asking the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to check the deal between AVG and VFF.

Talking about the issue, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism spokesman To Van Dong said on January 4, that the three sides should take it to court.

VPF Board of Director’s vice director Nguyen Duc Kien also said he expected to take the issue to court. But AVG CEO Pham Nhat Vu said that he hadn’t thought of settling the issue in a court.

Football clubs have publicly announced their decision to back VPF because they said the firm works to promote the value of their product -- football games – and the development of Vietnamese football.

Nguyen Minh Son, Becamex Binh Duong football club chairman, said he backs VPF CEO Nguyen Duc Kien in refusing AVG as the owner of TV rights for 20 years.

Earlier this month, Vietnam Television came to a preliminary agreement with VPF to buy TV rights of the 2012 Super League for VND7 billion ($333,300) -- a billion dong more than the deal with AVG.

“The VFF has caused a loss of the rights of clubs,” Son added.

Khatoco Khanh Hoa FC chairman Le Tien Anh called on the VFF to return to clubs their right to decide their product. Earlier, VFF chairman Nguyen Trong Hy argued that the VFF is the only legal owner of the leagues’ matches.

“Actually, I don’t care if VFF or VPF has the legal authority to sell TV rights of league games, but it must be sold at its true value.

“It is definitely unacceptable if the price of TV rights the VFF sells for a whole season is not enough to buy a single player.

“On average, the 28 clubs in the top two leagues spend VND1.5 trillion ($71.4 million) a year, and the VFF has sold the TV rights of the leagues for VND6 billion a year, or 0.004 percent of this spending.

“In Europe, the value of TV rights makes up 60-70 percent of the income of clubs,” Anh said.

It’s a contradiction to compare Vietnam’s Super League with Europe’s high-profile and extremely profitable leagues, but it’s even more contradictory if the VFF constrains the inevitable progress of domestic leagues for 20 years.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC chairman Huynh Mau added that most clubs trust and expect the VPF to find a suitable solution for the better development of Vietnam’s football.

Source: VNN