Moscow, March 7 (Reuters): President Vladimir Putin today defended the right of Russian soccer fans to watch matches free on television.

The President, whose hands-on “I feel for you” style appeals to many Russians, lashed out at a deal on exclusive broadcasts of national championship matches struck by the Russian Football Union and satellite television station NTV-Plus.

“NTV-Plus, together with the Russian soccer union and its chairman Vitaly Mutko have done one of those strange things. They want to rob us, soccer fans, of a free broadcast of matches,” Putin told first deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting.

“Have a chat with them on this issue,” Putin said in remarks shown on national television.

“Alright, I’ll call everyone,” Medvedev responded.

State-controlled national TV channels routinely show Putin giving instructions to top officials, but the soccer issue was an unusual instance of addressing a matter outside the government’s usual purview.