10 March 2004, Singapore: Asian football fans can tune in to ESPN STAR Sports over the next three years for comprehensive coverage of some of the world’s and the region’s biggest football tournaments to watch Asia’s best footballing nations battle for supremacy. The successful conclusion of a multi-year agreement with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) comes on the heels of a number of successful acquisitions by Asia’s number 1 sports broadcaster, as it continues its charge to deliver the widest selection of ‘must-see’ programming on its network.
The AFC package includes exclusive cable and satellelite rights for two of the biggest competitions on the Asian football calendar, the 2004 Asian Olympic Qualifiers and the Asian World Cup Qualifies (for the 2006 World Cup) as well as the Asian Cup 2004, the biennial Tiger Cup (2004 and 2006) and the biennial Asian Youth Under-20 Championships (2004 and 2006). The package also includes the Asian football weekly magazine show Football Asia (April 2004 to March 2006). This latest acquisition reinforces the company’s position as Asia’s most complete sports provider to Asian sports viewers.
Said Manu Sawhney, ESPN STAR Sport’s Senior Vice President Programming & Event Management Group: ‘We already know how strong the appetite for football is in Asia. More and more, Asian football and Asian football players are coming into their own – this became evident after the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea and seems set to continue. Our goal through this calendar of Asian football programming is intended to fan the flames of passion through providing Asian fans with an avenue to see their national team compete at the highest standards in their quest to claim a berth on the world’s football stage. This series of Asian football tournaments will no doubt be a good barometer of the continually changing balance of power in Asian football.’
2004 Asian Olympic Qualifiers
As the eyes of the world descend upon Athens for the Olympics later this year, Asian football fans will be rooting for their national team in this celebration of sporting excellence. At the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament, from August 11 to 28, three Asian teams will be part of the field of 16 teams that will be vying for medals. In order to determine Asia’s representatives, the AFC have organised the Asian Football Qualifiers 2004, which feature three rounds of qualifying matches for the 36 nations that entered the Olympic qualifying competition. The 2004 Asian Olympic Qualifiers from 3 March – 12 May on STAR Sports will help fans chart the progress of the three teams that qualify for Athens.
Asian World Cup Qualifiers
For the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, the Asian region has been awarded four and a half qualifying spots in the finals. A total of 32 teams from the continent submitted their entries for the tournament, which involve three stages of competition to determine the four direct qualifiers. A fifth team will go into a playoff with a team from the CONCACAF confederation to determine another World Cup spot. STAR Sports will broacast all 27 matches on a LIVE or on a same day delayed basis from February to December 9, 2005 when the final spots will be decided.
Asian Cup 2004
From humble beginnings, the Asian Cup has grown into one of international football’s biggest events with over 40 countries vying for the crown every four years. A total of 41 teams entered the Qualifying Competition for the right to lift the trophy in Beijing in August 2004, which were reduced to16 finalists after the premliminary and qualifying rounds. Among the remaining 16 include China, Korea Republic, Japan and Iran. STAR Sports will air a total of 26 matches LIVE or on a same day delayed basis throughout the duration of the competition from 17 July to 7 August 2004.
Tiger Cup (2004 and 2006)
The biennial event will be played in Cambodia and Malaysia, hosts for the group stages of the Tiger Cup 2004, which will be played from December 7 to 16. Five teams will play a round-robin format at two venues in each of the host nations. All semi-final and final matches will be played in the capital of the qualifying country. Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam looking to beat defending champions Thailand, who have won the tournament on three occasions. A total of 20 matches will be broadcast on STAR Sports each competition year.
In all, ESS will air a total of 170 hours of LIVE Asian football action on STAR Sports channels (48-hour delayed basis in China for the World Cup & Olympic Qualifiers and Asian Cup matches) which will reach over 57 million households across Asia.
For further information, please contact:
Stephenie Vasko, ESPN STAR Sports tel: (65) 6488 6126 or email: vaskos@espnstar.com