Walpen defends himself against Uefa censorship

 
The Sonntagszeitung newspaper devoted no less than three articles to Uefa at the weekend. The centerpiece was the interview with SRG Director General Armin Walpen, in which he took a stand on the images not broadcast by Uefa, such as a smoke parade in the audience at the Austria-Croatia match. SRG rejects any censorship of sports broadcasts, he said. Large sports associations were increasingly trying to secure control over images and sound with their own production companies. This worries him. He would therefore write to Uefa to draw their attention to this problem. Walpen's comments on SRG's advertising income in connection with the 2008 European Championships are also interesting; in some cases, this is not additional advertising, but a shift, for example from October to June. Such a major event could not be refinanced due to the high rights costs alone, he said. This is not even possible for television broadcasters in large countries. Sport is part of the public service and is primarily financed with taxpayers' money.
Taxes were also a topic in deputy editor-in-chief Ueli Walther's commentary on the "posturing of the monopolist Uefa". It is incomprehensible why the Nyon-based service company, which operates in a tough manner, is granted the status of a non-profit organization. The 2.1 billion that Uefa will have earned after the European Championship (twice as much as in 2004, 32 times as much as in 1992) should be taxed properly. In fact, the private company Uefa earns billions, while the host countries incur costs in the millions, which the public has to pay. He also calls the organization "stubborn", "greedy" and "submissive" towards its sponsors, who generate 500 million francs.
The head of sports at ORF, Hans Huber, also criticized the censorship practice and Othmar Kempf, President of the SRG Audience Council, found Uefa's behaviour "questionable". Peter Studer also unleashed a full broadside. For the former President of the Press Council, Uefa has not only turned out to be greedy, but also petty and control-hungry.
In terms of marketing, Zurich-based advertising strategist Daniela Bemberg believes that the 2008 event will be the peak. This certainly also applies to the television stations, which had to purchase broadcasting rights at high prices in order to receive censored images. However, it is doubtful that a peak was reached in terms of marketing.