WeeklySA_AdminINNOVATION: Camera operators will be briefly allowed in the field of play to film close ups of goal celebrations
By Sports Reporter
Touchline interviews with substituted players and camera access to dressing rooms are set to feature in Premier League TV coverage next season.
Camera operators will also be allowed to briefly enter the field of play to film close-ups of goal celebrations.
The innovations, first reported in the Telegraph, external come at the start of a new four-year domestic TV deal. The deal, worth a record £6.6bn, will allow Sky and TNT to show up to 270 live games a season.
Full details of the changes to coverage have yet to be confirmed by the Premier League.
BBC Sport has been told substituted players will be allowed to cool down before being interviewed on the touchline during the game.
But details have yet to be released on how often this will happen in matches, or how many matches it will apply to.
Dressing room access will be restricted and never allowed during team talks. Such coverage is a regular feature of sport in the United States but has rarely been seen in the UK.
The new TV deal includes the BBC continuing to show Premier League highlights on Match of the Day. It also includes Football Focus, plus additional digital rights for its online platforms.
Meanwhile, Minister of Sport, arts and culture gave the most concrete commitment given to establishing video assistant referee (VAR) in South Africa, in an answering session to Parliament recently.
The sports department explained it has set aside R90m in its budget for the establishment of VAR.
Further questions were posed: whether the total cost of VAR to the professional football has been established; which companies or suppliers have expressed an interest in providing the technology, how thr South African Football Association, SAFA, responded to the pronouncement of the VAR system and who will be responsible for the.maintenance.
