THE TV regulator, Ofcom, is investigating how Barclays Premier League rights are sold in Britain.

They are doing so in response to a complaint from Virgin Media, who claim that it breaches competition law. That's for Ofcom to decide. Doubtless, teams of lawyers will inflame their gout and grow fat on the debate. Hell mend their cholesterol levels, but in the end, it's the fans who will foot the bill.

UK viewers already pay more than anywhere else in Europe to watch televised football. It costs UK fans £51 per month for all top-flight matches on TV, but half that in Italy, £21 in Germany, £18 in Spain, and £10 in France.

The current three-year deal, which Virgin has challenged, was struck in 2012 and increased rights fees by 70%, to £3bn.

The next negotiations, over rights from 2016 and which Virgin is attempting to influence, could have the fee rise to £5bn.

BSkyB and BT will be involved in another bidding war. Virgin, though they will not enter the auction, have contracts in place with the two companies, and their costs would rise in line with the new deal.

How can viewers escape having to pay even more when these rights negotiations are concluded? It's transparently clear that matches are rescheduled for the benefit of the TV companies, with little thought for fans and the practicality of travelling to games. The same is also increasingly true of rugby.

Virgin's complaint highlights differences in the way Premier League rights are sold, compared to pay-per-view on the continent. Every top league match in Italy, Spain, France, and Germany can be shown live. In the UK, barely 41% of Premier League rights are sold: 154 of 380 matches per season at the last auction - an attempt to protect attendances at games with the traditional 3pm Saturday kick-off.

Virgin Media suggests to Ofcom that a continental approach would increase competition and limit galloping rights inflation. They argue that the low proportion of matches televised: "contributes to higher prices for consumers of pay TV packages that include premium sport channels and for the pay TV retailers of premium sports channels."

We are not naive. Virgin has launched their challenge in the hope of blunting the edge held by its rivals. They hope for commercial gain, and are not campaigning to improve the plight of football fans, irrespective of the Virgin Media ceo's comment that this is: "the right time to look again at the way live rights are sold to make football even more accessible."

The Premier League say their deal is "compatible with UK and EU competition law"; the broadcast watchdog who will determine that say its investigation will be conducted under the terms of the competition act. And it is interesting to note a comment from analysts, namely that under the current deal, Sky Sports is struggling to remain in profit while BT is operating a loss-leader to market broadband.

Ofcom must consult fans and supporters' groups. Without their presence in the stands there would be no atmosphere, and ultimately no product. But if games were screened live on Saturday afternoons, the effect on 3pm kick-off matches would be devastating.

The authorities are treating supporters with contempt. Why? Because they can afford to. With £3bn sloshing around, the take at the gate is increasingly less important. It was not gate receipts that drove transfer fees to a record £835m this summer. It was TV receipts.

Greed, of course, is at the root of this. the Premier League, club boardrooms, players and their agents, will all be delighted at rising rights fees. But fans will suffer. At a time of economic constraint for ordinary families, the figures being talked off are obscene. Escalating rights fees fuel rising player wages. FIFA is on the rack over corruption allegations.

Betting and doping scandals engulf countless sports. The win-at-any-cost mentality is all-pervading. Then there is the case of convicted Sheffield United rapist Ched Evans. Even Olympic champion Jessica Ennis has been dragged into the debate. She requested her name be removed from the stand bearing her name if he is allowed back at the club. One response on Twitter? "I hope he rapes her".

Sport has lost the moral compass that once made it great, made one proud to be associated with it.

n The warmth of Scotland's welcome at Hampden for our oldest football rivals was no less glacial last night than one might have expected.

Would it have been any different had "that vote" gone the other way? I doubt it. Yet it really is overdue we grew up as a nation.

At the London Olympics the hosts treated visitors with respect. During Glasgow 2014 I heard no condemnation or insult at any venue, despite the record number of plays for England's anthem, Jerusalem. I do confess to enjoy the Auld Enemy being given a gubbing. It's in our psyche, but I don't have to be a boor or a neanderthal to support my country.

One of sport's most uplifting moments was the acceptance at Croke Park of England's rugby team in 2007, when God Save The Queen was sung without a background whistle or cat-call.

Treating rivals with respect is a sporting fundamental. It's time we Scots learned to do so.