A controversial broadcast rights deal between soccer officials and a satellite television network would have made most soccer matches available only for satellite television subscribers.
Photo: Grigoriy Sobchenko
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Russian Fans to Enjoy Free Soccer on TV
National TV channels will be broadcasting the Russian soccer championship “just like last year”, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced on Friday, putting an end to a controversy over a broadcast rights deal between soccer officials and a satellite television network which would have made most matches available only for satellite television subscribers. Details of a new agreement are to be released on Saturday.
Agreement with the NTV Plus satellite television network has been reached and Sport TV is “most likely to broadcast live several matches of the leg,” a Kommersant source in the VGTRK company which owns Sport said on Friday.
According unofficial reports, VGTRK Director General Oleg Dobrodeev has recently met President Vladimir Putin and First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to discuss the deal. Vladimir Putin requested Mr. Medvedev to examine a contract between the Russian Football Premier League and NTV Plus which paid $92 million to broadcast the championship for four years.
VGTRK was unavailable for comment on Friday, saying that details on the broadcast will be available after a meeting of Sport and NTV Plus officials on Saturday.
The Russian Football Union, which took an active part in securing the controversial deal between NTV Plus and the Premier League, now prefers to keep a low profile. The Union’s chief Vitaly Mutko noted that the deal is entirely up to television people from Sport and NTV Plus. He added, though, that the Russian Football Premier League has handed broadcast rights to NTV Plus, and the parties will meet terms of the contract.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 10, 2007
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