Thai League Co has called on TrueVisions to soften its stance regarding the broadcast contract and show live matches until the end of the season next year.
The 2020 Thai League 1 season was suspended in March after four rounds of matches due to the Covid-19 pandemic and clubs agreed in April that the campaign will resume in September and finish in May next year.
TrueVisions, the official broadcaster of domestic matches organised by the Football Association of Thailand, insists that it will not show live games beyond Oct 25, the original final day of the Thai League 1 season.
However, the company says it is ready to negotiate with the FAT a new contract to broadcast matches until the end of 2020.
It claims it cannot show matches beyond this year because it has already finalised its programming for next year.
The firm, whose three-year contract with the FAT worth 1.2 billion baht expires this year, also demands a reduction in broadcast rights fees.
Thai League Co deputy chairman Korrawee Pritsananantakul admitted yesterday that a reduction in rights fees would affect Thai football and clubs which would receive less in subsidy.
He said the problem arose because of different interpretations of the deal.
The contract states that TrueVisions will broadcast matches from 2018-2020, according to Korrawee.
"This should mean the contract expires at the end of the season and not the end of the year," Korrawee explained.
"When there is an unexpected event and the season is postponed, the contract should expire on that new date."
Natural disasters, disease outbreaks, riots and laws or orders issued by the state are considered unexpected events, he said.
The FAT could not hold football matches because of the government's state of emergency and restrictions to contain the coronavirus.
"It is not that we intentionally violated the contract. I hope True understands this," Korrawee said.
He dismissed claim by True that the FAT had never informed the company of its decision to postpone the season which will resume on Sept 12 and end on May 15.
"Clubs jointly agreed on the new schedule on April 14. After that the FAT sent a letter to True, asking it to give a reply within 15 days whether it agreed or wanted to contest the decision," Korrawee said.
"True said it received the letter but did not give a reply on the matter."
He also said True has a representative in the FAT executive board so the person should know about this.
True has called for a meeting with the FAT on July 24.
"The FAT understands True. I hope the meeting goes on well and both sides can reach an agreement," Korrawee said.
"True has always supported Thai football. I believe TrueVisions subscribers want to watch live matches until the end of the season."
Miti Tiyapairat, chief adviser of Thai League 1 champions Chiang Rai, yesterday repeated his call for True to understand that the matter is an unexpected event.
He earlier said 1.2 billion baht is not much for True, one of Thailand's wealthiest companies, to help save Thai football.