Monday, April 12, 2010

Play fair, Fifa

Apr 10, 2010

I AM still puzzled why Fifa wants to charge so much for broadcast rights of the World Cup matches after it has secured fees from broadcasters in most other nations.

[What's there to be puzzled about? Money is money. If that is not enough reason, more money is better than less money, and there is no such thing as enough money.]

Singapore's telcos and media broadcaster should not be held to ransom.

[Definition of "Ransom":
  • money demanded for the return of a captured person
  • payment for the release of someone
  • exchange or buy back for money; under threat
  • the act of freeing from captivity or punishment
In all the above definition of ransom, there is an element of wrongful imprisonment of denial of liberty. For example if the world cup matches belong to Singapore, and FIFA had taken it from us and is now offering to return what they have wrongfully taken for money or payment, that would be a ransom. In this case, FIFA is the rightful owner of the rights of the World Cup broadcasts. Singapore is not even part of the final 64 or however many teams that make it to this final stage. So "Ransom" is overly emotional. "Profiteering" would be more correct.]

In the spirit of any sporting event, the World Cup should be for all to enjoy and appreciate. It can also rally people to strive for sporting excellence. Broadcast right fees must be at a fair and reasonable rate. Singaporeans should stand by the cable TV providers and free-to-air broadcaster in whatever decision they make.

[So you go to an S-league match and say in the spirit of the sporting events, I wanna watch the match for 20 cents, because, frankly, in terms of entertainment, it is probably worth that much to me. Or go to the F1 and say, I think your prices are unreasonable. How about lowering to say, oh, $20 for paddock tickets, cos frankly, I can't really see much from the paddock, and the prices you are charging are unreasonable.]

Let's use the millions of dollars saved to make an impact by helping Singaporeans who are unable to make ends meet.

[Oh like Singtel and Starhub will say, "we saved a bundle now that Fifa has charged reasonable fees. Let us donate the money we saved to the poor Singaporeans." Get real. And start making plans to travel to M'sia and Indonesia to catch the world cup.]

Felix Ng

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