B1.6bn World Cup rights ‘a waste’ Media academics have voiced strong objections to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) spending 1.6 billion baht on the rights to broadcast live World Cup 2022 matches free of charge. The NBTC is expected to decide on the proposal on Wednesday to set aside the budget from its research and development fund to buy broadcasting rights for the month-long tournament in Qatar that kicks off on Nov 20 and runs until Dec 18. In a six-point joint statement released on Tuesday, academics from Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of communicatio…