Newspapers face football lockout

A DISPUTE between British newspapers and the Premier League and Football League over the terms of media accreditation could leave journalists banned from games this weekend.

Talks between a media coalition and football bodies on an agreement of what reporters and photographers who take content from news agencies can cover in the Premier and Football Leagues this season broke down on Wednesday night.

The football bodies claimed they had offered better media rights terms than the existing deal in some areas.

“It has been made clear from the start that we are willing to improve areas of the agreement that are of importance to the media covering our matches,” the Premier League and Football League said in a joint statement.

“Whilst we are keen to conclude negotiations it became clear just 48 hours before the start of the new football season that a new agreement would not be in place.”

Nevertheless, newspapers have been told they must sign a temporary agreement if they want to gain access to the opening weekend of 36 Football League matches or face a lockout.

The newspapers will respond by covering matches from outside the grounds through broadcast media, while cutting out the names of football sponsors in retaliation.

The Community Shield match will not be affected by the dispute.