The “crown jewels” list of sporting events that must be shown live on free-to-air television could be extended to include all England football matches. Andy Burnham, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, said yesterday that he was ordering the first review of the list in a decade.

It follows a furore earlier this month when England’s World Cup qualifying match against Croatia was not shown on free-to-air television until 24 hours after the match. The rights to England’s away matches are held by Setanta, the pay-TV company.

The list of sporting events that are guaranteed to be shown on the BBC, ITV or other free channels includes the FA Cup Final, Wimbledon finals and the Grand National.

Qualifiers for the football World Cup and European Championship do not feature either on the list of protected events for live coverage or on the secondary list that guarantees highlights of events such as the Commonwealth Games and the Six Nations rugby union matches.

There is some political pressure for that to change. Richard Caborn MP, the former Sports Minister, said that he believed “there was a case for England matches to be protected”.

Live England cricket is also not protected, although highlights of home Test matches are. Last month the rights to live England cricket coverage were sold for a record £300 million to Sky. The BBC did not bid, arguing that it could not compete with Sky. Mr Burnham said yesterday that he wanted to maintain a list of protected sporting events, but added that it was “important that this list moves with the times and people’s tastes, ensuring that TV continues to bring the nation together and build community”. An independent chairman will be appointed to head the review.

The Conservatives accused Mr Burnham of avoiding questions about the future funding of commercial television. This week Ofcom, the communications regulator, gave warning that ITV regional news would become unviable in the next decade and that Channel 4 was running out of cash.

Jeremy Hunt, the Tory culture spokesman, said: “A review of listed sports events is fine but what does he think about the future of ITV regional news or the need for a strong Channel 4? On these issues we’re completely in the dark.” Mr Burnham promised he would make decisions regarding the future of ITV and Channel 4 early next year.

Mr Caborn said that the review ought to take into account whether the extra cash raised from selling to a pay-broadcaster is ploughed into the sport. “We don’t want to see cash just going to greedy players – there’s a balance that has to be looked at, and if the grass roots of a game like cricket is benefiting, then going to pay television is acceptable”.

A review is likely to pit some sporting bodies, who want to maximise revenues by selling to the highest bidder, against supporters who will point to audience figures that show that sport on free-to-air television attracts much bigger audiences.

Rafael Nadal’s victory over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon men’s final, a protected event, attracted 13.1 million at its peak, while the final of Euro 2008, in which Spain defeated Germany, was watched by as many as 12.1 million on the BBC. By contrast, England’s Lord’s Test against South Africa this summer was watched by an average audience of 380,000 on Sky, and England’s 4-1 win over Croatia on Setanta was watched by 1.4 million live, although another million are likely to have watched the game in bars.

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