ITV Strikes Deal With Setanta To Air Highlights Of England's Away World Cup Qualifiers

Setanta Sports has reached a deal with ITV to allow the terrestrial broadcaster to air highlights of England's remaining away World Cup qualifying games.

Setanta Sports has reached a deal with ITV to allow the terrestrial broadcaster to air highlights of England's remaining away World Cup qualifying games.

The deal follows a recent spat between ITV and Setanta after the two initially failed to strike a highlights deal for last week's Croatia versus England away World Cup qualifying game, although the two parties eventually agreed an 11th-hour deal.

ITV will now air highlights of Belarus versus England on 15 October, as well as Kazakhstan versus England on 6 June, 2009 and Ukraine versus England on 10 October, 2009. Under the terms of the agreement, ITV will be able to show free-to-air highlights shortly after the conclusion of these matches. No financial terms were disclosed although, newspaper reports today suggest the deal was worth £1.5m.

Setanta holds the exclusive live rights to England's away games in the qualifying tournament for the 2010 World Cup. It holds similar rights for the away legs of the fixtures involving Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

An FA spokesman said: "Of course we're delighted that a deal has been reached between Setanta and ITV, so that highlights of England's remaining away World Cup qualifying fixtures will be available on free-to-air terrestrial television."

Source:BrandRepublic