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SPORT WORLD NEWS Former NZ Rugby CEO claims IRB violates press freedom | |
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| Portuguese captain Vasco Uva #8 tackles fellow Uruguayan captain Rodrigo Capo-Ortega on March 24, 2007 in Montevideo, Uruguay. They advance on a 24-23 points aggregate. Portugal advances to the Rugby World Cup 2007 in France in spite of losing 18-12 and they advance on a 24-23 points aggregate. (Photo by Ignacio Naon/Getty Images) |
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PARIS, April 2, 2007 - A former director of New Zealand rugby has called on the International Rugby Board to drop restrictions on press coverage of the 2007 World Cup, saying the Board is "improperly seeking to interfere in the gathering and publishing of news in the short term pursuit of the dollar."David Rutherford, former chief executive of New Zealand Rugby Union, has written an open letter to IRB councillors in which he sides with the world's press in its dispute with the IRB, which is seeking to limit photographic coverage on web sites and other digital platforms and interfere with the way newspapers use photos in print. He said the restrictions violate press freedom and also hurt the long-term commercial interests of rugby and its sponsors. http://www.wan-press.org/article13653.htmlA copy of the letter was sent to the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), which, along with a coalition of the world's news agencies including Getty Images, Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press and Reuters, has asked the IRB to remove restrictions imposed on coverage of the World Cup, to be held in France in September. "WAN is clearly seeking only to protect the rights of its members to gather and disseminate news," said Mr Rutherford, who said the restrictions interfere with press freedom, which he called "one of the most fundamental human rights.""Failure by bodies like the IRB to observe human rights norms in pursuit of the dollar undermines rugby as a sport as much as drug cheats do," he said. "Such a failure undermines democracy in the nations in which rugby is played and it undermines the fundamental ethics and values of sport, and rugby in particular.""There has to be a balance between the IRB's understandable desire to maximise revenue and the democratic right of the news media to gather news," he said.The IRB has severely limited publication of World Cup photos through the Internet, including on thousands of newspaper web sites, to a maximum of five still photos per half and two photos of extra time. It has also introduced editorial restrictions on how photographs can be used in print publications -- banning the common practice of superimposing headlines and captions on photos if they obscure advertising within the images, for example -- and has put severe limits on audiovisual content on websites and mobile devices.The restrictions are imposed as a condition of access to the World Cup and news media are obliged to accept them before gaining accreditation to the events. News media face expulsion and legal action if the rules are broken.The IRB says it needs the restrictions on photos to protect its commercial contracts with licensees who pay for the rights to show the events live. But Mr Rutherford said the restrictions hurt, rather than enhance, the commercial interests of world rugby."The current IRB position is bad for the grassroots of the game and the commercial partners of the professional and amateur game because it will cause media organisations to cut or marginalise the coverage of grassroots and professional rugby, stop publishing results and draws for free and to lessen the amount of media space given to rugby union compared to other sport," he said. "In the smaller places where editors allow sponsors names to be used in local and provincial rugby news coverage, because the editors understand the importance of those sponsors to the game, expect the favours to stop." |
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