VoetbalTV was declared bankrupt this week. Since its inception in 2018, there has been controversy over the amateur game streaming service. According to the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP), the privacy of players was violated, because VoetbalTV had placed cameras on 150 playing fields and did not request individual permission from players.
This summer, AP already imposed a punitive measure on the initiative of the KNVB and Talpa Network football association, as a result of which all recordings were stopped two weeks ago – the week that amateur football started again. It now appears that VoetbalTV filed for bankruptcy earlier this week. Due to corona and the continuous clashes with AP, it has been difficult to generate income for some time, according to Voetbal TV.
Vulnerable
In 2018 VoetbalTV installed dozens of cameras at amateur clubs throughout the Netherlands. Amateur football enthusiasts could follow around 700 matches online every weekend. Since the beginning, there has been discussion about the privacy of the players. The clubs had to agree to the filming, but no permission was sought from the players.
Reason for action, said the privacy watchdog. VoetbalTV did not comply with the privacy legislation, according to AP. Especially because players from the age of 13 could already be filmed and the images were then online. This group in particular is vulnerable when it comes to privacy, according to the regulator. The commercial importance of VoetbalTV is also causing problems. According to AP, it is not justified to make privacy-sensitive images in order to earn money.
‘Snoring yap’
This judgment was already passed by the AP in November last year. Since then VoetbalTV has been waiting for a final decision: could they continue or not? The streaming service accused AP of not rushing the proceedings, leaving it itself in great uncertainty. The announcement of new sponsors would therefore have been postponed. In June So VoetbalTV started a lawsuit against the “indecisive AP” to come to a decision quickly.
In a column KNVB director Jan Dirk van der Zee called the watchdog a “snoring yapper from which amateur football threatens to suffer”. He also claimed that if there was no clarity for VoetbalTV on 1 September, the plug would be pulled. In July the haggling reached the Lower House. There a motion was passed that VoetbalTV and AP had to sit at the table together. Subsequently, the privacy watchdog took the plunge and imposed an official measure to stop filming.
VoetbalTV has announced in a response that it will continue with the lawsuit despite the bankruptcy.
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