Leading news agencies have suspended coverage of the Rugby World Cup in a dispute with the sport’s governing body over media restrictions reports The Canadian Press.
The Associated Press said its journalists would not attend any World Cup events until the dispute is resolved with the International Rugby Board. Reuters and Agence-France Presse also said they were suspending coverage.
The AP, AFP and Reuters are part of a global coalition of media organisations that have been negotiating with the IRB over reporting restrictions. The IRB has modified some of the original terms but has refused to change others.
Some of the restrictions are –
-A requirement that news organizations post no more than 40 images online from matches in progress, despite an agreement in principle with the IRB two weeks ago that would have allowed several hundred.
-A limit of no more than three minutes of news conference or locker room video posted online per match.
Subsequently the agencies have been joined in the dispute by newspapers including the Guardian, Times, Sun and French sports paper L’Equipe in limiting their coverage .