BALLS Channel announced it will cease airing the Barclays Premier League on November 1, a move that disappointed several Filipino football fans who had been following the EPL on cable television for several years.
In a statement, Balls Channel said the decision was made due to a "request" from MP Silva, which actually holds the television rights to the EPL in the Philippines. It was not stated what the request was.
“At the request of MP Silva, the official distributor of the Barclays Premier League in the Philippines, Balls will no longer broadcast the Barclays Premier League starting November 1, 2013,” the statement read.
Balls said the English league games will now be shown on a new channel BeIN SPORT. But the new channel is only available on SkyCable with subscribers having to pay a separate fee for the channel.
Fans were disappointed that they have to pay a separate fee so that they could watch the league games that was previously shown on basic cable channels through FOX Sports and Star Sports.
Balls Channel had taken over the broadcast of the EPL games just months ago.
Fans voiced their displeasure on Balls’ Facebook account more so since the network had already landed the rights to air the games of the top tier in England football.
“Pinasabik lang ang fans ng BPL tapos mawawala din pala,” said one upset fan.
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