Putin concerned over TV pay-per-view soccer matches decision-1

MOSCOW, March 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he was concerned that Russian Premier League soccer matches will be broadcast as a pay-per-view service via a network of commercial satellite channels.

On Tuesday the Russian Football Union (RFU) and NTV-plus commercial television company concluded an agreement to broadcast all live Russian Premier League matches at pay-per-view rates instead of free on state television channels.

"As I understand it, NTV-plus together with the [Russian] football union and its [RFU] president Vitaly Mutko have once again stirred something up and want to take away from us, the regular sports fans, a possibility of watching free soccer matches," Putin said.

The president said the government should look into the issue and asked Dmitry Medvedev, a first deputy prime minister and the head of the state commission on the development of television and radio broadcasting in Russia, to straighten the situation out.

"Be so kind as to look into this, because on the one hand, we talk about promoting a healthy life style, sports and family and, on the other, we put it all on a commercial basis," Putin said.

NTV-plus purchased exclusive rights from the RFU to broadcast live soccer matches for the next four years under a $100 million contract.

Mutko, reached by a RIA Novosti correspondent by telephone following Putin's statement, said he shared the Russian president's concerns, and said the broadcasting contract could be amended.

"We share the president's concern over the issue, and our positions coincide," he said.

But Mutko also said that "Soccer needs to earn money somehow. Last year, 11 professional soccer clubs lost their licenses because they went bankrupt."

The Russian president has been actively pushing for the development of sports and particularly soccer, following the Russian national team's recent poor performance and failure to qualify for the last year's World Cup in Germany.

The 2007 Federal budget, signed by Putin last December, allocated 206 billion rubles ($7.8 billion) for sports and health in Russia, a 41% increase against the previous year.