Zug, Switzerland - Infront Sports & Media has signed an exclusive agreement with M-League Marketing Sdn Bhd (MLM), of Malaysia, for a package of television and radio broadcast rights of the 2006 FIFA World Cup ™.
The agreement with MLM – who were also partners for the 2002 FIFA World Cup - includes the right to broadcast all the 64 matches live across free-to-air networks, pay-TV (over satellite and cable) and over radio in two languages – English and Bahasa Malaysia (Malay). M-League is a media rights marketing agency based in Kuala Lumpur and it plans to sub-license the rights, consistent with FIFA's distribution policy.
Following the success of its involvement with the FIFA World Cup in 2002, MLM is looking forward to its partnership with Infront in respect of the 2006 event in Germany. In 2002, all 64 matches were televised live and shared between the four leading Malaysian broadcasters – a first in Malaysia.
In a separate agreement, MLM has also acquired the mobile telephone rights within the territory, including the right to deliver highlights of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ matches to mobile phones. The exploitation of this new right is expected to help drive interest in the FIFA World Cup™ in Malaysia to an unprecedented level.
"We are delighted to continue our association with the world's most popular sports event and intend to achieve a similar level of broadcast success as we did in 2002," said Richard Velu, Executive Director of M-League Marketing.
In addition to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, MLM has also acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to the following FIFA Additional Events for the territory of Malaysia: Futsal World Championship 2004, FIFA World Youth Championship 2005, FIFA U-17 World Championship 2005, FIFA Confederations Cup 2005, FIFA U-19 Women's World Championship 2004 and 2006, Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cups 2005 and 2006 and the 2004/05/06 FIFA World Player Galas.
Oliver Seibert, an Executive Director of Infront, said: "This is an excellent deal for Malaysia with a highly experienced partner who will ensure maximum coverage and exposure".
