England v Ukraine to be 'internet only'
John Terry and Wayne Rooney celebrate England's goal in the home qualifier against Ukraine earlier this year
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By Adam Leveridge. |  |
Monday, 05, Oct 2009 08:35
By Alistair Potter.
England's World Cup qualifier against Ukraine in Kiev on Saturday evening will be screened exclusively live over the internet so that it is unavailable to TV viewers.
One-off subscription service Kentaro has secured the rights to the game, and it will cost any potential viewers at least £4.99 to watch the match.
The cost could rise to anything up to £11.99 if subscribers wait until Saturday to sign up - the cheaper price is only available until Wednesday and there are a maximum of one million subscribers.
It is the first time ever that a UK audience will be unable to watch the match live on TV.
Chief executive of Kentaro Philipp Grothe said: "We have spoken to every traditional UK broadcaster and currently have no offer on the table.
"We therefore feel the internet delivers the most viable option to deliver an important England game directly to the fans.
"It will be the first time in history that an England game has had an exclusive web broadcast."
Despite the match being effectively a dead rubber for the Three Lions, after they qualified with two games to spare courtesy of an eighth straight win in the campaign over Croatia last time out, the move has angered many fans.
"It's a joke," said England supporter Richard James from London.
"Who's going to spend three hours of their Saturday evening watching a small screen at home?"
However, others have hailed the move as forcing people to embrace the digital age in new ways.
Utilities analyst Daniel Barnes said: "It's a great step forward for technology - it's just a shame it's a match no one wants to watch, which is why no TV broadcasters wanted to splash out for the rights.
"But it could be a good opportunity to work out how to connect your computer to your widescreen TV for the first time."
Previous England internationals have also been screened by Kentaro, and the final game of the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign against Belrus will also be carried by the web-based broadcaster.
However, that match will also be shown by terrestrial TV channel ITV1. Bankrupt broadcaster Setanta had held the rights to all England away internationals but it went bust during the summer.
Fans wishing to watch the game live online should go to www.UkraineVEngland.com.