China TV in FIFA deal
Said to be the first agreement of its kind in the history of Chinese sport and FIFA, the latter announced yesterday, 12 November 2009, the signing of a deal in Beijing with China Central Television (CCTV) covering the broadcasting of different FIFA tournaments from now until 2014, including the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.
CCTV is China PR's national television station, with its 38 channels attracting more than a billion viewers throughout the country.
The agreement ensures that the world's most popular sport will be broadcast free-to-air throughout China. This will greatly benefit promotion of the game of football in a country where hundreds of millions of fans enjoy it. Extending broadcast coverage of football in the world's most populated country also represents an important step in developing and strengthening the game worldwide.
The station has made a strong commitment to show not only matches from the World Cups but also from its other events and tournaments such as the FIFA Women's World Cup and the different FIFA World Cups for young players.
"FIFA is delighted to have reached such a significant agreement with CCTV," FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke. "We believe that this is the start of a long-term cooperation that will help to further strengthen football in China and make it even more popular."
"Since its broadcast of the first FIFA World Cup match in 1978, the station has enjoyed over thirty years of constructive cooperation with FIFA," said CCTV's deputy editor-in-chief Li Ting. "The partnership between the two organisations will further improve the quality of our long-term strategy in covering football."
