A court on Tuesday dismissed a case against four members of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) over the regulator’s handling of a 600-million-baht subsidy to obtain the broadcast rights to the 2022 football World Cup.
The Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases said there was not enough evidence to proceed with the case against the four board members: ACM Thanaphun Raicharoen, Pirongrong Ramasoota, Suphat Suphachalasai and Somphob Phuriwikraipong]t.
Also cleared was Phumisit Mahawetsri, deputy secretary-general of the NBTC.
Trairat Viriyasirikul, the acting secretary-general of the NBTC, brought the criminal complaint against the five for malfeasance and negligence for breaching the “must have, must carry” rule for World Cup broadcast licensing.
The NBTC approved an allocation of 600 million baht from its Universal Service Obligation fund to the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) to purchase the broadcasting rights for the tournament, which cost 1.4 billion baht in total. The agreement was subject to the “must-have” rule that permits free and equal rights to broadcast a programme.
However, the SAT later made an agreement with a third party, the telecom and broadcasting group True Corp, which was also a major sponsor, for match licensing.
True, which contributed 300 million baht towards the purchase of the rights, was given exclusive rights to show 32 matches of its choosing. True then obtained a court injunction to prevent rival internet protocol TV (IPTV) platforms from showing any matches.
The NBTC board said at the time that not all television providers were given equal opportunities to broadcast all matches under the “must-carry” rule
It has since decided that the “must-carry” rule, originally intended to ensure Thai TV viewers have access to major sporting events, is more trouble than it’s worth and has proposed to scrap it.
The NBTC board in June 2023 removed Mr Trairat as acting secretary-general for failing to enforce the rules related to the broadcasting rights.
The four board members had approved the disciplinary investigation against him.
