TV VIEWERS can look forward to seeing the World Cup and the Euros for free — after FIFA and UEFA lost an appeal at the European Court of Justice.

Football’s main governing bodies challenged Britain’s decision that all such games should be ‘Listed Events’, meaning they must be shown on free channels like the BBC and ITV.

UEFA and FIFA argued only the final matches of the competitions should be ‘Listed Events’. If that happened they would get far more for the TV rights if the likes of Sky and BT Sport bidded.

But the European Court of Justice dismissed the challenge, ruling: “It is for the member states alone to determine events which are of major importance.”