News just inn:
Setanta Sports have announced that highlights of the Croatia v England World Cup qualifying game will be shown free-to-air on Setanta Sports 1 on Wednesday evening at 11.30pm.
The late decision by Setanta was only made public at 6pm, two hours before the kick-off in Zagreb in order to minimise the damage done to the numbers of armchair viewers who would otherwise have bought a Setanta package in order to watch the England game.
Earlier in the day, ITV, who have done a joint deal with Setanta for England home matches and the FA Cup, offered £500,000 to screen highlights of the crunch game but the bid was rejected.
The BBC had offered a similar fee.
In a statement, Setanta said: "Regretfully, Setanta did not receive offers that reflected the commercial value of its investment in the rights to the games involving England and Scotland."
Trevor East, director of sport at Setanta, said: "Setanta always wanted as many football fans as possible to be able to watch tonight’s Croatia v England World Cup qualifying match.
"We always intended to make highlights available, and were disappointed that we were unable to reach agreement with any of the terrestrial broadcasters.
"This was not due to any lack of willingness on our part: we have been able to strike highlights deals in Wales and Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, none of the terrestrial broadcasters who expressed an interest in the England game offered us a fair market price.
"We are delighted that we have been able to find a solution to this problem with our own free-to-air highlights programmes. A lot of people had to move quickly to make this happen and I would like to thank them for their efforts. We hope football fans enjoy tonight’s games."
The game is the first England match in 40 years to not be shown in any form on terrestrial TV.
Setanta paid £5million for the rights to broadcast the match live and reportedly have been asking for £1m for the rights to highlights.
But the highest bid they received is believed to be £250,000 from ITV, with the BBC offering around £200,000.
An ITV source told OddsPreview.com on Tuesday: "The money Setanta are asking for is obscene and its the public who are missing out as a result of their greed."
On Saturday in Barcelona, England fans chanted anti-Setanta slogans during the Andorra game.
Former England captain Alan Mullery told the Daily Mail: "The FA have sold their soul for money without considering the supporters who have been loyal to them.
"Setanta have gatecrashed the scene and you can't blame them because they are trying to compete, but they have demanded a ludicrous price for highlights, so it is little wonder the fans are up in arms."
Phil Thompson, now a pundit with Setanta's rivals, Sky Sports, added: "How on earth can this be allowed to happen? The FA should be bright enough to gain control of who watches their matches - and that means a guarantee for the fans back home."
Setanta have secured rights to all of England's World Cup away games but attracted an average audience of just 750,000 for the clash with Andorra last Saturday.
Although Wednesday night's clash should bring a higher audience, Setanta is only available in 3million homes and the total viewing audience will likely be lower for the live broadcast than a highlights show would bring on terrestrial TV.
Mark Longden of the Football Supporters' Federation said: "England football fans should be able to watch the England team for free. This is the national team, it is so important to so many people.
"These games should be protected. Rights to these games should only be sold to broadcasters on the understanding that provision is made for a terrestrial highlights show."
A spokesman for Setanta said on Tuesday night: "We entered into discussions to make the highlights available but to date have not received a proposal that makes commercial sense."
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