F1: Asian motorsport fans sidelined by soccer - again

The failure of ESPN Star, part of the Star Sports group of channels, to show qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix - one of the region's most significant sporting events - until an hour after qualifying finished demonstrates the deeply flawed concept of allowing monopoly broadcasting of major events over a large geographical area.

ESPN Star has exclusive rights to broadcast F1 live across the whole of Asia, from India to China. With that comes responsibilities - or so one would think.

Yet coverage is ruined by frequent and long advertising breaks which often cover more than an entire lap and, at the critical start and end of races, often allows fans to see three laps, then miss two, see three, miss two and so on.

While the FIA and FOM talk of making things better for fans, they fail to protect fans' interests when negotiating TV rights contracts.

In the UK, ITV's disruption of racing for the purpose of advertising was the cause of much complaint - and the move of the series to the BBC was widely applauded, in significant part because there would be no advertisements. And for those lucky enough to see the BBC's coverage, enjoyment is much higher than previously.

But although the BBC webcasts its F1 coverage, the agreement with FOM allows that to be seen only by viewers in the UK. StarESPN does not stream its coverage.

And so, tens of millions of F1 fans across the region that FOM says is the most important for the sport are blocked from all live access to qualifying for the Singapore GP.

It's an outrage. And if FOM is serious about making the sport more accessible and interesting for the fans, it should make sure that coverage is ad-break free and that channels undertake to carry both qualifying and the race live and, if they do not, then other channels must be given the opportunity to do so, even if by taking the feed from the BBC.

This is not the first time that Star networks - which show wall to wall soccer for much of the week - have hidden F1 away from fans.

Tonight, they will show it at midnight until 1am tomorrow.

Fans will be able to watch repeats during the day tomorrow. But that's simply not good enough.