The lawsuit between the Football Association of Thailand (FAT) and Siam Sport has officially ended after nearly 10 years of legal dispute. The Central International Court for Intellectual Property and Commerce of Thailand has just issued a decision requiring FAT to compensate Siam Sport with 360 million baht (about 272 billion VND), plus interest calculated from the date of the lawsuit began.
It all started in 2016, when former Chairman FAT - Mr. Somyot Poompanmoung decided to terminate his contract with Siam Sport without the consent of the partner. According to the initial agreement, Siam Sport retained the rights to broadcast major football tournaments in Thailand and enjoyed a 95% profit, while FAT only received 5%. However, Mr. Somyot said that this contract was unusual and not beneficial to FAT, leading to a unilateral decision to terminate the contract.
The prolonged dispute has attracted the attention of many stakeholders, and not only FAT and Siam Sport are the only participants. This legal battle has caused many financial losses for FAT, especially when the federation has encountered many financial difficulties in recent years.
Despite Somyot initiating the dispute, Nualphan Lamsam (Madam Pang) - acting Chairman of FAT will be the one to take financial responsibility in the lawsuit. However, with the amount to be paid up to 272 billion VND, many experts are concerned that Thai football will face many major challenges in maintaining operations and development in the coming time.
