Supreme Court gives final verdict on World Cup payment issue

Supreme Court has dismissed a short-term interim order issued earlier on the extra payment of Rs 500 for the Football World Cup. The verdict ends the dilemma over the subscription issue for the matches and paves way for Media Hub to air the matches live. Now, viewers will be able to watch World Cup matches live on TV after buying a subscription.

On Wednesday, November 16, the joint bench of Justices Prakash Kumar Dhungana and Manoj Kumar Sharma dismissed the interim order issued by the single bench of the Supreme Court. This clears confusion over whether to pay for the subscription or wait for a decision by the court. Nepali Football fans will now have to buy a subscription to watch the Football World Cup matches held in Qatar.

Earlier, a single bench of Judge Prakashman Singh Raut attended the writ petition on Tuesday, 8th November. He then issued a short-term interim order not to enforce the decision to charge an extra fee of Rs 500.

Advocates Kishore Paudel and Anupam Bhattarai filed a petition at the Supreme Court after Media Hub Pvt Ltd, structured a payment-based model for viewers to watch the FIFA Football World Cup.

Nepali viewers will need to pay Rs 565 to watch the World Cup

Media Hub, which has earned exclusive rights to the games has imposed a Rs 500 subscription fee on Nepali audiences to watch the Football World Cup matches. Besides, the 13% VAT totals the amount to Rs 565. The decision drew protests from the fans in Nepal as fans have never had to pay extra fees to watch the tournament before. Media Hub, on the other hand, maintains that its decision to charge viewers was obligatory. The company says charging the viewers is necessary to recoup its hefty investment to buy the broadcasting rights from Viacom. The Football World Cup 2022 starts on November 20 in Qatar.

CHECK OUT: How to watch Football World Cup in Nepal? Find All Fixtures

Will work day and night to ensure live broadcast after Supreme court clears the way for World Cup broadcast

After the short-term interim order is dismissed, Media Hub says it will work diligently enough to air the matches live. After the SC gave its order, the company stalled its arrangements for the broadcast. It had also warned that the order would make it almost impossible to air matches live in Nepal due to the lack of time for preparation.

“Respecting the order of the court, we had earlier stopped all the preparations for the games’ broadcast in Nepal, but now the legal way has been opened for us, Media Hub Executive Director Som Dhital said, “We don’t have enough time for technical and other preparations, but we are still working day and night preparing for the broadcast.”

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As of now, Himalaya TV has been confirmed to broadcast World Cup matches from November 20. The television company will air the matches live via its two PREMIUM dedicated channels. If you are not sure whether your Cable, DTH, or IPTV operator will be providing World Cup football matches live, do confirm with them.

Media Hub has reasoned that it needs to charge viewers an additional fee to recoup its investment amount spent on buying the rights from Viacom 18.

What do you think of the SC’s verdict on the payment issue? Do you find it justified or does it go against the public sentiment involving the games’ most ardent fans in the country? Share your opinion in the comments below.