The Public Broadcasting Services did not block any football matches, noting that cuts in transmission of foreign channels which broadcast matches from Euro 2020 are imposed on them by conditions established by UEFA, PBS Executive Chairman Mark Sammut said on Monday.

Sammut was reacting to anger from the public at cuts in the transmission of Rai TV for Italy’s round of 16 clash against Austria on Saturday night, cuts which continued for the matches played on Sunday.

Foreign station broadcasts of group stage matches were not blocked throughout the past few weeks as the European Championships continued.

Sammut said that in accordance with a contract signed with European footballing body UEFA, foreign television stations cannot broadcast the matches outside of their territories, and that PBS risks facing millions of euros in fines if it allows that to happen.

PBS holds exclusive rights to broadcast all the Euro 2020 matches, something which the company had paid hundreds of thousands of euros for, Sammut said.

When UEFA grants the rights to PBS, it specifically told PBS that these matches had to be geo-blocked.  The same suffices for Rai in Italy, Sammut explained.

“In Malta, only PBS can transmit these matches, and PBS didn’t block anything. This is a UEFA matter, and a matter of conditions imposed by UEFA”, he said.