A list of sporting events the BBC believes should remain available to free-to-air broadcasters has been submitted to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) as part of an ongoing review into the listing system.

The independent review is the first to be undertaken by the government since 1998, and the BBC is proposing that home nation World Cup and European Championship football qualifiers, together with Wales Six Nations and autumn rugby internationals, are added to the list of protected events. Other events included in the BBC in its proposals, which were submitted to the DCMS by the BBC Trust on 30 July, include the finals of the Cricket World Cup and Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, while the corporation said that British and Irish Lions rugby fixtures should be made available for highlights.

BBC trustee David Liddiment said: "Major sports events reach out to the whole of society, regardless of age, background and ethnicity in a way that few other television programmes can. As audiences continue to fragment following digital switchover, the value to society of listing events will only increase. "However the last review of the list was carried out before devolution. The BBC's Audience Councils input has highlighted the importance of particular sports in the nations, for example rugby in Wales and football in Scotland. We believe the listing criteria should be extended to better reflect the four nation's own sporting passions."