Topping Hits Back
Scottish Professional Football League chairman Ralph Topping has accused the BBC of "discriminating" against the game north of the border as he criticised the decision to reportedly pay Gary Lineker twice as much as the whole of Scottish football.
Photo by Jeff Holmes
Scottish Professional Football League chairman Ralph Topping has accused the BBC of "discriminating" against the game north of the border as he criticised the decision to reportedly pay Gary Lineker twice as much as the whole of Scottish football.
The league chief hit back after BBC director of Sport Barbara Slater admitted there was "inequality" in the amount of money the Scottish game receives from the public broadcaster compared to the English Premier League.
She told the Telegraph Business of Sport conference that the ÂŁ204million the BBC spent on securing the Match of the Day highlights was worth it because licence payers demanded it.
But Topping claims viewers north of the border are being "badly short-changed" by a deal which sees the BBC contribute less than ÂŁ1million a season for Sportscene TV highlights.
And he ridiculed Slater's explanation for the vast differences in sums paid to the respective leagues by highlighting Match of the Day host Lineker's reported ÂŁ2million-a-year salary.
In a strongly-worded statement, he said: "The days of the BBC selling Scottish football short are drawing to a close. There is an overwhelming argument that the public money spent by the BBC on the UK's national game should be more evenly split.
"There is no doubt that the English Premier League is one of the most powerful leagues in the world, and the BBC is paying ÂŁ68million per annum over the next three years for its slice of that particular cake - but Scottish football will no longer be satisfied with the crumbs off the table.
"Compared to England, Scots contribute a tenth of the licence fee, yet at less than ÂŁ1million for TV highlights, our BBC deal is only 1/60th of what the BBC pays to the English Premier League and that doesn't include the money they also pay to the English Football League for highlights.
"The BBC is damaging the game in Scotland and these double standards are indefensible for a publicly-funded broadcaster.
"It's a sad reflection of the BBC's approach to its investment in Scottish football that Gary Lineker's salary is double the amount the BBC pays for TV highlights of over 250 SPFL games each year.
"In the current deal, the BBC has almost halved the amount they previously spent on Scottish football. There comes a point where you have to say 'enough is enough' and we've reached it.
"Fans, clubs, politicians and the Scottish public recognise that, as our national broadcaster, the BBC has a duty to do the right thing.
"The facts could not be clearer - for far too long the BBC has been discriminating against Scottish football and it's time for the corporation to increase its contribution to the sport in Scotland to properly reflect what our country contributes to the licence fee.
"There is one more season left on our current deal with the BBC and we're determined that any new deal far better reflects the importance of the game in Scotland and the hundreds of millions the corporation receives from Scottish licence fee payers every year."
The Daily Mail quoted Slater saying: "The sports rights market is intensely competitive and there are all sorts of dynamics that are taken into consideration when you put together what you would bid for rights.
"And it is quite correct that, the licence fee, we are trying to get as much as we can in terms of sports rights with the investment. So we are, to a degree, going to be dictated by the market rate.
"I know the comparison you're going to draw between highlights of football in Scotland and highlights that we would pay for the Premier League. The truth is, the Premier League is a global brand. It is loved by audiences and we think it's incredibly important that Match of the Day, as the highlights broadcaster of Premier League football, is an incredibly important programme for us to invest in.
"The message from audiences across the UK is crystal clear: they love Match of the Day and they want Match of the Day to stay on the BBC.
'The strength of reaction we got when the BBC renewed those Match of the Day highlights this time is probably the most positive reaction that we've had to a set of sports rights because I think there were real concerns in that current marketplace about how tough it is to secure rights.
"So, yes, there is inequality, in fairness, but, as a broadcaster, as someone investing the licence fee, I've got to invest it in the way the market dictates."