FIFA recently lost a legal battle, and as a result, sports fans in Belgium and Britain will be able to witness the biggest sporting events such as World Cup on their television. The European Union's second highest court, the General Court, junked another similar appeal from UEFA, governing body of European football, requesting to overturn decisions by British authorities in order to restrict broadcast of the European football championship finals.

According to the General Court, "a member state may, in certain circumstances, prohibit the exclusive broadcast of all World Cup and Euro football matches on pay television, in order to allow the general public to follow those events on free television."

The court adds that restrictions on paid broadcasts are justified by the right of the public to information as well as the need to provide wide access to television broadcasts of sporting events. Additionally, an EU directive says that EU countries are permitted to create a list of events of national interest or "crown jewels", such as the Olympic Games, to be broadcasted over free television stations.