SCOTLAND'S qualifying matches for international football tournaments should be shown live on terrestrial television, a new report said yesterday.
The BBC Audience Council for Scotland called for such matches to be added to the list of sporting "crown jewels" – events which must be made available to mainstream, free-to-air broad-casters.
The national side's home matches are currently broadc
ast on subscription channel Sky Sports.
But in its report yesterday, the BBC Audience Council for Scotland – which advises the BBC Trust how well the network is doing from a licence payer's perspective – said that should change.
They called on the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) at Westminster to add the international qualifying games to the "crown jewels".
In its report, the council said: "The (DCMS] lists certain events which must be made available for free-to-air terrestrial broadcasters. They are defined as those 'generally felt to have a special national resonance' and should 'contain an element which serves to unite the nation'.
"The council recommends the DCMS add the qualifying stages of international football competitions to the list of events available to terrestrial broadcasters."
The report comes after First Minister Alex Salmond demanded action from both broadcasters and Westminster to ensure Scotland's qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup are shown on terrestrial TV.
The full article contains 225 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
