Setanta nets World Cup language rights

Setanta Sports, the US pay-TV network dedicated to European soccer and rugby, has acquired a package of secondary-language TV rights for the US airing of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Among the foreign-language rights awarded to Setanta Sports are German, Italian, Polish and French, as well as languages from the Far and Middle East.

[SB alchemy 6] From June, Setanta will air all 64 matches from the soccer tournament, starting with the live kick-off on June 9 in Munich between Germany and Costa Rica. Additional scheduling of World Cup games, and the network's Road to the 2006 FIFA World Cup programming line-up, will be announced shortly.

"We are extremely excited to be able to bring these games live to the millions of fans of European extraction living in the US," said Simon Green, chief executive of Setanta Sports North America. "Around the world, the World Cup is the most prestigious and most-watched single sports event in the world."

Oliver Seibert, an executive director with Infront, the company that handles distribution of the FIFA games, said: "The agreement with Setanta enables a huge number of expatriates and ethnic groups in the US to enjoy the FIFA World Cup in their native language and it reflects perfectly our idea of an open market distribution policy."