(16 November 2005 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Infront Sports & Media which is football's governing body Fifa's ,marketing agency ,has signed a second broadcast agreement in Italy for next year's World Cup

The deal was signed with Italy’s national broadcaster, RAI. It has secured the exclusive rights to show daily highlight coverage throughout the competition after 11 pm. In addition, RAI has acquired the news access rights for all matches for Free-TV and exclusive radio rights.

The package also includes live Free-TV rights for the final draw of the World Cup, which takes place on 9 December 2005 at the Leipzig Trade Fair in Germany. Through an agreement signed in 2001, RAI already holds the live Free-TV rights for one match a day (25 matches in total) for the World Cup. In India, the event will air on ESPN Star Sports.

Infront executive director, Oliver Siebert, says, “We are pleased to conclude the broadcast sales in one of the most important football markets in Europe. Once again Infront’s open-market distribution policy delivers winning results for everyone. The fans in Italy will have excellent highlight coverage on Free-TV, shortly after the final whistle of every 2006 Fifa World Cup match date.”

In addition to the agreements with RAI, Sky Italia was confirmed in May as the second broadcast partner in Italy. Sky Italia acquired the exclusive pay-television rights for all 64 matches of the World Cup. Of these matches, Sky will have the right to broadcast 39 matches exclusively live on pay television.