Scotland fans face 'unfair' charge to watch matches on TV while England games available for free

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An SNP MP has asked Rishi Sunak if it is "unfair" that Scotland football matches are not free-to-air when England and Wales ones are.Paisley and Renfrewshire North MP Gavin Newlands has been campaigning to make the games free to watch on TV.Tartan Army fans must pay for subscription service Viaplay if they want to watch their heroes on TV - while England and Wales games are freely available.It comes after Scotland beat Norway and Georgia to extend their lead at the top of their European Championship qualifying group to eight points.Newlands told Sunak during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday that many can't afford a Viaplay subscription and asked him to set up a meeting with Tory Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer to discuss the matter.He said: "Last night was another fantastic night at Hampden.

A real tonic during tough times."However, while English and Welsh fans could watch their national teams for free on Channel 4 and S4C, only a small fraction of Scots could watch the match [last night], with many unable to afford a subscription to Viaplay, particularly during this cost-of-living crisis."So does he agree with me that this is inherently unfair and will he ask the [Digital, Culture, Media and Sport] Secretary to meet with me to discuss how we fix this situation?"Sunak replied: "Well can I join my honourable friend in his comments about the match and let him know that I know the Culture Secretary is engaging with him and others on this particular topic and I'll make sure that she gets back to him."Last week junior Tory media minister John Whittingdale said making Scotland games free-to-air could result in a loss of income for the SFA.He said a significant amount of the SFA's income comes from selling the broadcasting