Sky to share Turkey tie

BSkyB agreed today to give up their exclusive coverage of next month's highly-charged England qualifier in Turkey in a bid to stop trouble at the game.

Sky TV chief executive Tony Ball said the network was prepared to agree to a Government request to sell rights to a terrestrial broadcaster in efforts to stop fans from travelling to the game in Istanbul.

Sky is prepared to allow a channel such as the BBC, ITV or Channel Five to show the game delayed "as live". This happened in 1997 when Sky allowed ITV to show England's crucial World Cup qualifier against Italy in Rome.

The terrestrial coverage for the Turkey game cannot begin, however, until half-time at the earliest of the game on 11 October.

The BBC is the most likely broadcaster to bid for the rights since ITV will begin their coverage of the Rugby World Cup on the same day. It is questionable whether Sky's decision will actually stop England fans from travelling to Istanbul but the Government is prepared to take any measures it can in order to avoid trouble.

The Football Association have not taken up their allocation of tickets for the game and have urged fans not to travel.

Sports Minister Richard Cabourn said: "It's great that Sky is doing this. I just hope a commercial deal can be done but this must not be seen as a precedent. It's a one-off for a sensitive match."

Around 600 fans defied pleas from the FA to travel to Macedonia for another England qualifier earlier this month. European governing body UEFA held a meeting today between the English and Turkish FAs to discuss security arrangements for the game.