England fans must wait until at least 7.15pm today to discover whether highlights of the World Cup qualifier against Ukraine will be shown on television after ITV walked out of last-minute talks to buy the rights last night.

A curtain of secrecy was drawn over the eleventh-hour negotiations in case news of a highlights show damaged take-up of the internet pay-per-view package by tens of thousands of

fans wanting to see if Fabio Capello’s team can maintain a perfect record in qualifying. A late announcement of a free-to-air highlights package would sicken the thousands who have invested up to £11.99 to watch the game streamed live from Dnipropetrovsk.

The game would normally attract a live audience of several million on terrestrial TV but the broadcasters, including ITV, were willing to pay only about half of the £500,000 demanded by Kentaro, the rights-holder, to screen highlights. Kentaro also refused to allow broadcasters to publicise that they had secured the rights in advance of the live internet broadcast.

Five also turned down the chance to show highlights, leaving a lukewarm BBC as the only possible bidder. Like ITV, the BBC wants more time on air to promote that it has the rights.

Although the match is meaningless in terms of World Cup qualification — England have already booked a place in South Africa — a number of issues remain to be solved by Capello.

The game would normally attract a live audience of several million on terrestrial television TV but the most that fans unwilling to pay for internet coverage can expect is highlights.

One source in the broadcasting industry said: “Kentaro were offering a highlights package but it became clear that fans would not log on to the live internet coverage if they thought they were getting highlights for free later. Now nobody seems to know what is going on, but we do know there can be no announcement of highlights until after the match, which doesn’t give a broadcaster much time to advertise it to viewers.”

A spokesman for Perform Group, which has organised the network of internet sites showing the live game — with coverage accessible through Times Online — said that interest in watching the first live internet streaming of an England international was going well, although figures are unlikely to be announced until next week.

The decision to show the match live only on the internet sparked fury among fans and Stuart Pearce, the England Under-21 head coach, is adamant that all senior England matches should be free-to-air. Kentaro was backed into a corner when the British arm of Setanta Sports, the Irish broadcaster, went bust and the BBC and ITV became consumed with their Saturday night ratings battle between Strictly Come Dancing and The X Factor.

Setanta had bought the rights, which are owned by the Ukrainian football federation and not the FA. Instead of a rush of interest from rival TV stations, there was no movement at the Kentaro offices in Chelsea Harbour as the live rights went up for sale at about £1.5 million.

No broadcaster came forward with an offer to screen the game live. Bids of about £250,000 for a highlights package were put forward and are thought to have been rejected by Kentaro. There was silence from the company last night, but it is thought that talks could go on into today.

For TV companies eager to show highlights as soon as possible, there is the difficulty of scheduling and alerting viewers. The BBC is the most obvious home for a highlights show, which could go out tonight after the late news bulletin and into the traditional Match of the Day slot before The Football League Show. But some industry observers believe that there should be a buffer of at least 24 hours to ensure that internet viewers enjoy the full benefits of watching online without feeling that their deal has been devalued by a same-day highlights show screened free.

The match will also be shown in a dozen Odeon cinemas, including in Leicester Square, Central London. Tickets — £8 for adults and £5.50 for children at most venues — are reported to be selling well.

Odeon cinemas showing the match: Basingstoke, Bath, Birmingham, Blackpool, Derby, Hatfield, Leicester Square, Lincoln, Manchester, Sheffield, Southampton, Wimbledon.