The FFU's ‘Can the Commercials' campaign enters its final World Cup phase - urging all football supporters to boycott ITV and watch the BBC as the channels go head-to-head once again on Sunday for the final game of the tournament.
The campaign has been a runaway success so far, with fans demonstrating strong support to save the English game during the previous round - almost 80% of viewers followed the England v Brazil match on the BBC.
Alex Burmaster, Campaigns Director of the Football Fans Union said: “We are delighted with the response so far from fans during our World Cup campaign. The final provides a perfect opportunity to show Carlton and Granada that they cannot renege on their obligations to football clubs up and down the country.
“The campaign does not end at the Yokohama Stadium on Sunday – it's only just begun. We are working with football authorities, fan bodies and fans around the country to co-ordinate a series of activity to demonstrate the strength of feeling against Carlton and Granda's behaviour.”
Over 15,000 registrants have now pledged support to the ‘Can the Commercials' campaign, for the World Cup final and beyond.
ROUND 11: THE WORLD CUP FINAL
Sunday 21 June 2002 11.00 – 14.30 Watch BBC not ITV!
ROUND 10 – ENGLAND v BRAZIL VIEWING FIGURES
An average of 12.4 million viewers followed England on the BBC – compared to the 3.6million who followed the match on the ITV, achieving a 78% share of the match viewing figures.
(Source: The Guardian 24 June 2002)
Fans can register support now at www.The-FFU.com
The ‘Can the Commercials' campaign launched last month, calls all football fans to join together to boycott ITV in protest against Granada and Carlton's role in the ITV Digital fiasco.
The campaign has the backing of footballing authorities, including the Football League's David Burns, and football fans up and down the country.
The message is simple – if you want English football to survive the collapse of ITV Digital – Can the Commercials – watch the BBC!
"I am fully supportive of the work being done by the Football Fans Union to give fans a chance to voice their disapproval over Carlton and Granada's actions. This is something the fans can do to help while The Football League pursues Carlton and Granada through the courts to reclaim the £178.5 million that is due to our member clubs."
David Burns, Chief Executive - The Football League
"The PFA is pleased to support your campaign and use all its endeavours to support the Football League in its maintenance of its contract with ITV Digital
to protect the financial welfare of all clubs in the football league.”
Gordon Taylor, Chief Executive – The PFA
"The League Managers Association is more than happy to support and endorse your excellent campaign which urges the honouring of contractual agreements."
John Barnwell, LMA Chief Executive
Previous rounds of ‘Can the Commercials' have targeted ITV broadcasts, in protest against Granada and Carlton's role in the ITV Digital fiasco. The World Cup provides a unique opportunity for fans to increase the pressure on Carlton and Granada by boycotting the actual programme itself without missing any of the action. THE FFU The Football Fans Union is being set up to provide a free service to football fans. We are planning to launch later in 2002 and so the specifics of our service are still in development. However, the focus of the FFU will be on fan consultation and we have created certain core principles that will guide the development and activity of the FFU: · Fan consultation: This will be incorporated into the fabric of the FFU, it's at the core of what we are & everything we do · Respect for privacy: Fans are important to us, we will not sell on data and we will not ‘spam' people. · Best practice adoption: We will comply with the Data Protection Act and adopt voluntary best practice guidelines · Independence: Any commercial relationships will only be entered into on the strict understanding that the FFU service must be free to operate with total independence. · Profit redistribution: The FFU is a private company, and we will redistribute 50% of our profits to grass roots football FOR FURTHER INFORMATION – OR TO BE KEPT INFORMED ON FFU DEVELOPMENTS Idea Generation: 020 7428 4949 · Octavia Goredema octavia@ideageneration.co.uk · Hector Proud hector@ideageneration.co.uk