It is a decision that fell at the end of the year in all discretion but which could make a lot of noise in the world of TV rights and broadcasts of sports matches. The DGCCRF (Directorate General for Competition, Consumption and the Repression of Fraud) has thus prohibited beIN Sports, broadcaster of the Italian championship throughout the season, from no longer broadcasting Atalanta Bergamo matches. The reason ? The presence on the shirt of the Serie A club of a sponsor – Plus500 – whose appearance on the air would be considered “prohibited advertising of risky financial products”.
However “these advertisements are prohibited by the consumer code”, observes the DGCCRF in an injunction taken against beIN Sports. She therefore “ordered” the chain “to cease these practices”.
As the resumption of the Italian championship looms, with an enticing Juventus Turin – Atalanta Bergamo, on Sunday evening, the management of beIN Sports took the lead in announcing the bad news to its subscribers. The discussions started with the DGCCRF to find a solution will indeed not lead by Sunday.
As a reminder: since the end of 2016, advertising for certain risky financial products or cryptocurrency exchanges has been prohibited in France in sports competitions, in the same way as tobacco and alcoholic beverage brands.
This is not the first time that the presence of this sponsor, a Cypriot online trading company, has posed a problem in France. In 2018, before the Europa League final between Atlético de Madrid and Marseille in Lyon, it was the CSA which, alerted by the French Association of Brokers and Investment Service Providers, sent a letter to M 6, broadcaster of the match. But he had no power to ban the retransmission.
The DGCCRF had also been seized. But she had refused to sanction the broadcasters – beIN also broadcast the final – and this decision had been canceled by the administrative court by a judgment of November 12, 2020.
“The reasoning is clear,” explained public law lawyer Marion Ogier, of Andotte Avocats, recently in analysis on the difficult reconciliation between the law of television rights and consumer protection. The retransmission of a match and, on this occasion, the broadcast of a prohibited advertisement must lead to a sanction from the publishers of television services, regardless of whether the match is broadcast live and that its non-retransmission would be disproportionate taking into account the rights TV acquired. »
This time, beIN is therefore exposed to sanctions in the event of a forced passage. Within the Qatari channel, we deplore the decision of the DGCCRF, emphasizing in particular that Atalanta matches take place in Italy, where these types of sponsors are authorized, and not in France. All means are currently being implemented by beIN to restore the situation in order to be able to quickly resume the broadcasting of all Serie A matches.
On the side of the Qatari channel, we also underline the potential risks that the decision of the French authority brings to bear on TV rights in the future.
In addition to Atalanta, the trading platform has also established sponsorship relationships with the Chicago Bulls NBA franchise and the football clubs of Legia Warsaw (Poland) and Young Boys Bern (Switzerland).
