UEFA is streaming Euro 2016 games in Spain and Venezuela "as no rights buyer was found," according to Robert Briel of BROADBAND TV NEWS. A total of 28 games "will be available as live streams." Mediaset in Spain and Meridiano TV in Venezuela are broadcasting 23 matches from the finals on their TV channels, "with the remaining 28 fixtures to be streamed on the tournament’s official website." Streams will commence 45 minutes before kickoff. A list of available matches will be available on the official UEFA website (BROADBAND TV NEWS, 6/13).
SAFETY FIRST: In London, Jack de Menezes reported BBC commentator Alan Green will boycott the 2018 World Cup in Russia "after deciding the trip is too much of a safety risk," with the fallout from the fan violence seen at Euro 2016 leading to England and Russia receiving a threat from UEFA. The 63-year-old Radio Five Live presenter confirmed that he "made his intention to skip the tournament clear" to the station’s controller Jonathan Wall "a few months ago," with the violent clashes witnessed in Marseille "justifying Green’s decision." Northern Irishman Green has not missed a major tournament in more than 30 years, "having covered 16 European Championships and World Cups during his career" (INDEPENDENT, 6/13).
HUNGARY FAN ZONE: INSIDE THE GAMES' Daniel Etchells reported Budapest 2024 has teamed up with Hungarian national TV to create a football fan zone for Euro 2016 in the city’s "most popular urban green space, Erzsébet Square." The fan zone, which "resembles those in each of the 10 host cities for Euro 2016," opened on Saturday and will feature a festival-sized LED screen for fans "to watch matches from now until the end of the tournament" on July 10. The fan zone is set to play host to a range of sport activities, "including the Budapest 2024 target-kicking competition, and Teqball, a Hungarian-invented game that is a hybrid of table tennis and football" (INSIDE THE GAMES, 6/11).
