Group B which had, so far, produced the two most disappointing matches of Euro 2012 exploded into life on Wednesday evening. Substitute Silvestre Varela's late strike boosted Portugal's hopes of reaching the quarter-finals. Pepe's thumping near-post header put Portugal ahead, before Hélder Postiga smashed in a close-range effort. But two headed goals from striker Nicklas Bendtner brought the Danes level and looked set to leave Paulo Bento's men with an uphill task to advance from Group B. Then with three minutes left, Varela's right-foot shot won it for Portugal. The Portuguese, coming into the game on the back of defeat by Germany, needed at least a draw to stand any chance of extending their record of reaching the knockout stage in their last five European Championships. In contrast, Denmark headed into the Lviv clash brimming with confidence following their opening 1-0 win against the highly fancied Dutch. And they held another psychological advantage over their opponents having finished above them in qualifying groups for both the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.
Portuguese boss Bento was heavily criticised by his country's press for his side's defensive tactics against Germany - indeed his side had failed to score in three of their previous six games heading into this match - and adopted a more adventurous approach against the Danes. Odious, slimy cheat Cristiano Ronaldo, looking to add to his sixty two-goal season for Real Madrid, was often the focal point of Portugal's attack but it was an off-day for the twenty seven-year-old, who missed several chances in front of goal, most notably a glorious one-on-one chance seconds before Bendtner's leveller. 
It was his Bernabeu team-mate Pepe who broke the deadlock when the dithering Danish defence allowed the defender to amble to the front post and meet João Moutinho's left-wing corner. With Ronaldo struggling to find top gear, Portugal relied on his ex-The Scum colleague Nani to open up the Danish defence in the first half. And Nani was the architect as former Stottingtot Hotshots striker Postiga became just the sixth player to score in three European Championship finals. Denmark failed to close down Portuguese attacks on either flank before Nani picked out Postiga at the near post with a precise square pass. Victory for Morten Olsen's men would have put them on the brink of a quarter-final place following their surprise win over the misfiring Dutch. And the Scandinavians were given a lifeline shortly before the break when Portugal's defence switched off to allow Michael Krohn-Dehli to nod Lars Jacobsen's deep cross back across goal for Bendtner to score the easiest of close-range headers. It meant The Arse centre forward marked a landmark fiftieth cap in style and has now scored in each of his five appearances against the Portuguese.
Bendtner looked the most likely of the Danish players to find an equaliser in the second half and duly obliged when he met Jacobsen's right-wing cross at the far post.
But there was to be a further twist as Varela smashed in a right-footed shot from inside the Denmark area to spare Ronaldo's blushes.
In the day's second game, Mario Gomez gave a desperately disappointing Netherlands a lesson in finishing as Germany left their bitter rivals on the brink of an early exit from Euro 2012.
The Bayern Munich striker turned sharply and slotted home Bastian Schweinsteiger's pass before lashing home a brilliant second from the right. Robin van Persie, who had wasted a golden chance to put the Dutch ahead, gave them hope with a fine strike in the second half. But Germany held on comfortably to all but cement their place in the quarter-finals.
Today's opening game is Italy versus Croatia (kick-off 5.00pm). Gary Lineker presents coverage of this evening's Group C encounter at the Municipal Stadium Poznan. This is the second major tournament in which Italy and Croatia have been drawn against each other in the group stage, having previously faced each other in Group G of the 2002 World Cup. When the nations clashed on that occasion, Croatia created a real stir by fighting back from a goal down to pinch a 2-1 win in Ibaraki, which proved to be their only victory of the tournament, as they were eliminated without progressing to the knock-out stage, while Italy would finish in second place and move on to the last sixteen.
As with that encounter in 2002, Italy will go into this clash as favourites to triumph, mainly due to their impressive record in the qualification process for this tournament. The Azzurri, coached by former Fiorentina boss Cesare Prandelli, topped Group C with a record of eight wins and two draws from their ten matches, which saw them score seventeen goals and concede just twice in the nine completed games, with a home match against Serbia being abandoned due to rioting. Croatia finished as runners-up in Group F, but overcame Turkey in a two-legged play-off to appear at a third consecutive European Championship. With analysis by Lee Dixon, Clarence Seedorf and Niall Quinn.
ITV, meanwhile, have Spain versus Republic of Ireland (kick-off 7.45pm). Coverage of this evening's Group C match at the Arena Gdansk. Giovanni Trapattoni's men will go into this clash as underdogs against the reigning champions, who triumphed not only at Euro 2008, but also at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and have a combined record of eleven wins, one loss and one draw at those two championships.
In addition to that impressive tally, Vicente Del Bosque's men also won all eight of their matches in the qualification process to book their ticket for Poland and Ukraine. The most recent meeting between these nations took place at the 2002 World Cup, when Mick McCarthy's Ireland produced a valiant display in the last sixteen that would ultimately result in their elimination on penalties, with the teams level at 1-1 after extra-time. That was the last appearance for an Irish side at a major tournament, and Trapattoni will hope his current squad is more harmonious than that which represented the nation in Japan and South Korea, as he attempts to lead them to the knockout stage for the first time.
Russia have been given a suspended six-point deduction by UEFA because of the behaviour of their fans during their 4-1 win against the Czech Republic. Action was taken due to the use of fireworks and politically far-right banners. An incident in which fans attacked stewards, leaving four needing hospital treatment, is being investigated by UEFA and police. The penalty will apply to the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, and also includes a fine of one hundred and twenty thousand Euros.
Russia, who will host the 2018 World Cup, could face further sanctions after their supporters were involved in violence before their game against Poland, which was drawn 1-1, on Tuesday. A march by thousands of Russian fans to mark their national day had to be halted and some missiles were thrown as supporters clashed with their Polish rivals. Police say they arrested at least one hundred and twenty people and that ten people were injured. Inside the ground, Russian fans also displayed a provocative banner.
Italian striker Antonio Cassano has apologised for comments he made about homosexuals on Tuesday. The twenty nine-year-old AC Milan forward claimed that he hoped there were no homosexuals in the Italy squad at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. But he subsequently released a statement insisting that he had been misinterpreted. 'I sincerely regret that my statements have sparked controversy and protest from gay rights groups,' Cassano said. 'Homophobia is a sentiment that is not mine. I did not want to offend anyone and I can not question the sexual freedom of other people. I only said that it is a problem that does not concern me and it is not for me to pass judgment on the choices of others, who are all respected.'
Cassano was asked during a news conference whether he thought there were any homosexuals in Cesare Prandelli's twenty three-man squad. Instead of responding with 'is that an issue?' and questioning why he was being asked such a question, as anyone with half-a-head would have, he reportedly replied: 'The coach warned me that you would ask me this question. If I say what I think, I hope there are none.' Cassano started Sunday's 1-1 draw with Spain just eight months after undergoing heart surgery. He was taken ill on the team's plane following Milan's 3-2 win over Roma in October. Cassano returned to club duty in April but admits that he never expected to feature for the national team this summer. He added: 'I honestly didn't think I would play at the European Championship. I was scared. When you arrive to a certain point where it is a case of live or die, everything else becomes secondary. I saw the future as grey, very grey, but fortunately I am here. I have been blessed, and even if I am not a believer I do feel I have been blessed.'
Hapless Harry Redknapp's position at Stottingtot Hotshots is increasingly uncertain despite his strenuous denial that he would resign as manager. Of course the irony of the fact that just week ago, all of his brown-tongued mates in Fleet Street and at Sky Sports had virtually awarded him the England job and now he might end the summer with no job at all. Which would be funny. Redknapp, sixty five, will reportedly hold talks with chairman Daniel Levy, possibly as early as Wednesday, to discuss his future. According to BBC Sport, the pair are understood to remain some distance away from an agreement over a new contract, with Redknapp's deal due to expire in June 2013. Reports suggest that Levy was 'left dismayed' by Spurs' end-of-season slump. It comes after Redknapp rejected Internet speculation that he had quit, telling ESPN on Tuesday: 'No, I haven't resigned and I have no idea why it's being suggested I have. This is an outrage - an absolute liberty for people to be putting around this kind of rumour on the Internet. It is not true, there is not a chance I will resign. Why should I? I have a year left on my contract.' Moscow Chelski's Champions League triumph meant that, despite finishing fourth, Yer Actual Spurs missed out on the final place in next season's competition and the added revenue that goes with it. Instead, they've got to slum it in the Europa League along with yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved 9though unsellable) Magpies.
Tragedy, eh? Redknapp's team won just four of their final thirteen Premier League matches, with a 5-2 defeat by The Arse on 26 February the catalyst for their disastrous run of form. Spurs had led 2-0 and victory would have opened up a thirteen-point gap over their rivals The Gunners, who pipped them to third place on the final day of the season. Negotiations over an extended contract for Redknapp have stalled since the start of the year when he was linked - by just about everybody in the media if not, you know, anyone that actually mattered - with the then vacant England manager's job. The former West Ham and Portsmouth manager told BBC Sport last week that he would have taken the England job if it had been offered to him. But, it wasn't. Redknapp, who recently rejected suggestions linking him with a club in Qatar, had warned that ongoing uncertainty about his future would affect Spurs players. The manager, who guided the club into the Champions League for the first time in 2010, said: 'The simple situation is I've got a year left on my contract. It's up to Tottenham whether they want to extend that contract or not. If they don't extend it and I go into my last year, it's not an easy one when players know you've only got a year left. It's not a case of me looking for security. What it's about is players knowing you've only got one year left on your contract and knowing that it doesn't work, basically. I think it's a situation of "well, he might not be here next year." You don't let players run into the last year of their contract if you think they're any good and you don't let managers run into the last year of their contract if you think they're any good. It's up to Tottenham. If they think I'm okay and I've done a decent job and deserve an extension, they'll give it to me.'
The Premier League's two billion quid-plus auction of live UK television rights has gone to a second round with alleged 'sources' allegedly indicating that a new bidder, thought to be al-Jazeera, has entered the fray against incumbents BSkyB and ESPN. Bids for the second round of the auction for UK TV and digital rights to one hundred and fifty four Premier League games a season for three years from August 2013 are due in at lunchtime on Wednesday, with a good chance that the winners will be announced later in the week. That the auction process has gone to a second round of bidding is not unusual – this also occurred in the last rights auction in 2009. In that case BSkyB secured the four main rights packages unchallenged in the first round of bidding and this was announced by the Premier League. The second round was for the two smaller packages, with Sky and Setanta securing one each. The fact that BSkyB has been required to submit another bid in the new auction, with no news from the Premier League that there was a clear winner of any packages in the first round, has led to speculation that a potentially serious bid from a rival has been submitted. In the new auction the total number of live matches going under the hammer is increasing from one hundred and thirty eight to one hundred and fifty four games a season, with no single broadcaster allowed to have the rights to more than one hundred and sixteen games. This is understood to have pleased ESPN, which has twenty three matches under the current deal, as it would allow the Disney-owned broadcaster to look at targeting the additional matches on offer to boost its live coverage to thirty eight games a season without getting into a bidding war with BSkyB. With ESPN thought to be uninterested in challenging BSkyB for the lion's share of live matches, 'sources' allegedly believe that a second round of bidding has been forced by a new player.
'The sense is there is a new bidder out there with a potentially serious offer and everyone thinks it is al-Jazeera, although no one can be one hundred per cent,' said one anonymous industry 'source'. Allegedly. 'The question is how many packages they are targeting, meaning Sky or ESPN.' If there are clear winning bids for all the TV packages after the second round the Premier League will announce the result quite swiftly, possibly Wednesday afternoon or by Thursday at the latest, unless a third round auction is required. Nasser al-Khelaifi, director of al-Jazeera Sports, has said that the broadcaster has received the Premier League tender and is 'studying whether there is room for another sports channel' in the UK. The Qatar-based broadcaster is known to have done significant work evaluating a bid. Al-Jazeera Sports already has a foothold in the UK, using ITV Studios to produce English-language commentary for football matches, fronted by Gary Lineker, Ruud Gullit, Alan Shearer and Terry Venables, for expats throughout the Middle East on al-Jazeera+3. Al-Jazeera took French broadcasters by surprise last year, taking on incumbent Canal+ and snapping up live football rights including Euro 2012 and Euro 2016, UEFA Champions League football and the FA Cup. It launched a channel in France on 1 June. The broadcaster also intends to launch two channels in the US in August, for which it has secured rights for football leagues in Spain and Italy. US Premier League rights have been held by News Corporation's FOX Sports since 1998, with some sub-licensing to ESPN since August 2009. Premier League rights in al-Jazeera's home market of the Middle East are held by Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation, BSkyB's partner in Sky News Arabia, the rival service launched in the region in early May. ADMIC is a private investment firm owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the owner of Sheikh Yer Man City. In the last TV rights auction the Premier League netted about £1.4bn for overseas rights. Or, in other words, mucho-lov-er-lee wonga for the greedy shits who run our beloved game.
And, almost before those words were off the printer, it was announced that BT had secured the rights to broadcast thirty eight Premier League games for each of the seasons from 2013-14 to 2015-16. BSkyB will continue to show the majority of matches, having secured the rights to one hundred and sixteen games per season, the Premier League said. The total of one hundred and fifty four live matches is sixteen more than currently broadcast and more than forty per cent of all top-level matches. The sales raised just over three billion smackers, an increase of £1.25bn on the current package which shares rights between BSkyB and ESPN meaning lots of greedy slurpring and licking of lips from the pimps, robber barons, absentee landlords and sellers of dodgy sportswear who run our favourite clubs. 'We welcome BT as a new Premier League broadcast partner,' said Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore. 'They are a substantial British company that is at the leading edge of technology and infrastructure development.' He said BT would 'deliver new ways in which fans will be able to follow the competition.' He added: 'The continuing support of BSkyB for Premier League football is significant beyond the revenues delivered; the longevity and quality of their commitment has done much for the English game as a whole.'
It was his Bernabeu team-mate Pepe who broke the deadlock when the dithering Danish defence allowed the defender to amble to the front post and meet João Moutinho's left-wing corner. With Ronaldo struggling to find top gear, Portugal relied on his ex-The Scum colleague Nani to open up the Danish defence in the first half. And Nani was the architect as former Stottingtot Hotshots striker Postiga became just the sixth player to score in three European Championship finals. Denmark failed to close down Portuguese attacks on either flank before Nani picked out Postiga at the near post with a precise square pass. Victory for Morten Olsen's men would have put them on the brink of a quarter-final place following their surprise win over the misfiring Dutch. And the Scandinavians were given a lifeline shortly before the break when Portugal's defence switched off to allow Michael Krohn-Dehli to nod Lars Jacobsen's deep cross back across goal for Bendtner to score the easiest of close-range headers. It meant The Arse centre forward marked a landmark fiftieth cap in style and has now scored in each of his five appearances against the Portuguese.
Bendtner looked the most likely of the Danish players to find an equaliser in the second half and duly obliged when he met Jacobsen's right-wing cross at the far post.
But there was to be a further twist as Varela smashed in a right-footed shot from inside the Denmark area to spare Ronaldo's blushes.In the day's second game, Mario Gomez gave a desperately disappointing Netherlands a lesson in finishing as Germany left their bitter rivals on the brink of an early exit from Euro 2012.
The Bayern Munich striker turned sharply and slotted home Bastian Schweinsteiger's pass before lashing home a brilliant second from the right. Robin van Persie, who had wasted a golden chance to put the Dutch ahead, gave them hope with a fine strike in the second half. But Germany held on comfortably to all but cement their place in the quarter-finals.Today's opening game is Italy versus Croatia (kick-off 5.00pm). Gary Lineker presents coverage of this evening's Group C encounter at the Municipal Stadium Poznan. This is the second major tournament in which Italy and Croatia have been drawn against each other in the group stage, having previously faced each other in Group G of the 2002 World Cup. When the nations clashed on that occasion, Croatia created a real stir by fighting back from a goal down to pinch a 2-1 win in Ibaraki, which proved to be their only victory of the tournament, as they were eliminated without progressing to the knock-out stage, while Italy would finish in second place and move on to the last sixteen.
As with that encounter in 2002, Italy will go into this clash as favourites to triumph, mainly due to their impressive record in the qualification process for this tournament. The Azzurri, coached by former Fiorentina boss Cesare Prandelli, topped Group C with a record of eight wins and two draws from their ten matches, which saw them score seventeen goals and concede just twice in the nine completed games, with a home match against Serbia being abandoned due to rioting. Croatia finished as runners-up in Group F, but overcame Turkey in a two-legged play-off to appear at a third consecutive European Championship. With analysis by Lee Dixon, Clarence Seedorf and Niall Quinn.ITV, meanwhile, have Spain versus Republic of Ireland (kick-off 7.45pm). Coverage of this evening's Group C match at the Arena Gdansk. Giovanni Trapattoni's men will go into this clash as underdogs against the reigning champions, who triumphed not only at Euro 2008, but also at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and have a combined record of eleven wins, one loss and one draw at those two championships.
In addition to that impressive tally, Vicente Del Bosque's men also won all eight of their matches in the qualification process to book their ticket for Poland and Ukraine. The most recent meeting between these nations took place at the 2002 World Cup, when Mick McCarthy's Ireland produced a valiant display in the last sixteen that would ultimately result in their elimination on penalties, with the teams level at 1-1 after extra-time. That was the last appearance for an Irish side at a major tournament, and Trapattoni will hope his current squad is more harmonious than that which represented the nation in Japan and South Korea, as he attempts to lead them to the knockout stage for the first time. Russia have been given a suspended six-point deduction by UEFA because of the behaviour of their fans during their 4-1 win against the Czech Republic. Action was taken due to the use of fireworks and politically far-right banners. An incident in which fans attacked stewards, leaving four needing hospital treatment, is being investigated by UEFA and police. The penalty will apply to the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, and also includes a fine of one hundred and twenty thousand Euros.
Russia, who will host the 2018 World Cup, could face further sanctions after their supporters were involved in violence before their game against Poland, which was drawn 1-1, on Tuesday. A march by thousands of Russian fans to mark their national day had to be halted and some missiles were thrown as supporters clashed with their Polish rivals. Police say they arrested at least one hundred and twenty people and that ten people were injured. Inside the ground, Russian fans also displayed a provocative banner.Italian striker Antonio Cassano has apologised for comments he made about homosexuals on Tuesday. The twenty nine-year-old AC Milan forward claimed that he hoped there were no homosexuals in the Italy squad at Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. But he subsequently released a statement insisting that he had been misinterpreted. 'I sincerely regret that my statements have sparked controversy and protest from gay rights groups,' Cassano said. 'Homophobia is a sentiment that is not mine. I did not want to offend anyone and I can not question the sexual freedom of other people. I only said that it is a problem that does not concern me and it is not for me to pass judgment on the choices of others, who are all respected.'
Cassano was asked during a news conference whether he thought there were any homosexuals in Cesare Prandelli's twenty three-man squad. Instead of responding with 'is that an issue?' and questioning why he was being asked such a question, as anyone with half-a-head would have, he reportedly replied: 'The coach warned me that you would ask me this question. If I say what I think, I hope there are none.' Cassano started Sunday's 1-1 draw with Spain just eight months after undergoing heart surgery. He was taken ill on the team's plane following Milan's 3-2 win over Roma in October. Cassano returned to club duty in April but admits that he never expected to feature for the national team this summer. He added: 'I honestly didn't think I would play at the European Championship. I was scared. When you arrive to a certain point where it is a case of live or die, everything else becomes secondary. I saw the future as grey, very grey, but fortunately I am here. I have been blessed, and even if I am not a believer I do feel I have been blessed.'Hapless Harry Redknapp's position at Stottingtot Hotshots is increasingly uncertain despite his strenuous denial that he would resign as manager. Of course the irony of the fact that just week ago, all of his brown-tongued mates in Fleet Street and at Sky Sports had virtually awarded him the England job and now he might end the summer with no job at all. Which would be funny. Redknapp, sixty five, will reportedly hold talks with chairman Daniel Levy, possibly as early as Wednesday, to discuss his future. According to BBC Sport, the pair are understood to remain some distance away from an agreement over a new contract, with Redknapp's deal due to expire in June 2013. Reports suggest that Levy was 'left dismayed' by Spurs' end-of-season slump. It comes after Redknapp rejected Internet speculation that he had quit, telling ESPN on Tuesday: 'No, I haven't resigned and I have no idea why it's being suggested I have. This is an outrage - an absolute liberty for people to be putting around this kind of rumour on the Internet. It is not true, there is not a chance I will resign. Why should I? I have a year left on my contract.' Moscow Chelski's Champions League triumph meant that, despite finishing fourth, Yer Actual Spurs missed out on the final place in next season's competition and the added revenue that goes with it. Instead, they've got to slum it in the Europa League along with yer actual Keith Telly Topping's beloved 9though unsellable) Magpies.
Tragedy, eh? Redknapp's team won just four of their final thirteen Premier League matches, with a 5-2 defeat by The Arse on 26 February the catalyst for their disastrous run of form. Spurs had led 2-0 and victory would have opened up a thirteen-point gap over their rivals The Gunners, who pipped them to third place on the final day of the season. Negotiations over an extended contract for Redknapp have stalled since the start of the year when he was linked - by just about everybody in the media if not, you know, anyone that actually mattered - with the then vacant England manager's job. The former West Ham and Portsmouth manager told BBC Sport last week that he would have taken the England job if it had been offered to him. But, it wasn't. Redknapp, who recently rejected suggestions linking him with a club in Qatar, had warned that ongoing uncertainty about his future would affect Spurs players. The manager, who guided the club into the Champions League for the first time in 2010, said: 'The simple situation is I've got a year left on my contract. It's up to Tottenham whether they want to extend that contract or not. If they don't extend it and I go into my last year, it's not an easy one when players know you've only got a year left. It's not a case of me looking for security. What it's about is players knowing you've only got one year left on your contract and knowing that it doesn't work, basically. I think it's a situation of "well, he might not be here next year." You don't let players run into the last year of their contract if you think they're any good and you don't let managers run into the last year of their contract if you think they're any good. It's up to Tottenham. If they think I'm okay and I've done a decent job and deserve an extension, they'll give it to me.'The Premier League's two billion quid-plus auction of live UK television rights has gone to a second round with alleged 'sources' allegedly indicating that a new bidder, thought to be al-Jazeera, has entered the fray against incumbents BSkyB and ESPN. Bids for the second round of the auction for UK TV and digital rights to one hundred and fifty four Premier League games a season for three years from August 2013 are due in at lunchtime on Wednesday, with a good chance that the winners will be announced later in the week. That the auction process has gone to a second round of bidding is not unusual – this also occurred in the last rights auction in 2009. In that case BSkyB secured the four main rights packages unchallenged in the first round of bidding and this was announced by the Premier League. The second round was for the two smaller packages, with Sky and Setanta securing one each. The fact that BSkyB has been required to submit another bid in the new auction, with no news from the Premier League that there was a clear winner of any packages in the first round, has led to speculation that a potentially serious bid from a rival has been submitted. In the new auction the total number of live matches going under the hammer is increasing from one hundred and thirty eight to one hundred and fifty four games a season, with no single broadcaster allowed to have the rights to more than one hundred and sixteen games. This is understood to have pleased ESPN, which has twenty three matches under the current deal, as it would allow the Disney-owned broadcaster to look at targeting the additional matches on offer to boost its live coverage to thirty eight games a season without getting into a bidding war with BSkyB. With ESPN thought to be uninterested in challenging BSkyB for the lion's share of live matches, 'sources' allegedly believe that a second round of bidding has been forced by a new player.
'The sense is there is a new bidder out there with a potentially serious offer and everyone thinks it is al-Jazeera, although no one can be one hundred per cent,' said one anonymous industry 'source'. Allegedly. 'The question is how many packages they are targeting, meaning Sky or ESPN.' If there are clear winning bids for all the TV packages after the second round the Premier League will announce the result quite swiftly, possibly Wednesday afternoon or by Thursday at the latest, unless a third round auction is required. Nasser al-Khelaifi, director of al-Jazeera Sports, has said that the broadcaster has received the Premier League tender and is 'studying whether there is room for another sports channel' in the UK. The Qatar-based broadcaster is known to have done significant work evaluating a bid. Al-Jazeera Sports already has a foothold in the UK, using ITV Studios to produce English-language commentary for football matches, fronted by Gary Lineker, Ruud Gullit, Alan Shearer and Terry Venables, for expats throughout the Middle East on al-Jazeera+3. Al-Jazeera took French broadcasters by surprise last year, taking on incumbent Canal+ and snapping up live football rights including Euro 2012 and Euro 2016, UEFA Champions League football and the FA Cup. It launched a channel in France on 1 June. The broadcaster also intends to launch two channels in the US in August, for which it has secured rights for football leagues in Spain and Italy. US Premier League rights have been held by News Corporation's FOX Sports since 1998, with some sub-licensing to ESPN since August 2009. Premier League rights in al-Jazeera's home market of the Middle East are held by Abu Dhabi Media Investment Corporation, BSkyB's partner in Sky News Arabia, the rival service launched in the region in early May. ADMIC is a private investment firm owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the owner of Sheikh Yer Man City. In the last TV rights auction the Premier League netted about £1.4bn for overseas rights. Or, in other words, mucho-lov-er-lee wonga for the greedy shits who run our beloved game.And, almost before those words were off the printer, it was announced that BT had secured the rights to broadcast thirty eight Premier League games for each of the seasons from 2013-14 to 2015-16. BSkyB will continue to show the majority of matches, having secured the rights to one hundred and sixteen games per season, the Premier League said. The total of one hundred and fifty four live matches is sixteen more than currently broadcast and more than forty per cent of all top-level matches. The sales raised just over three billion smackers, an increase of £1.25bn on the current package which shares rights between BSkyB and ESPN meaning lots of greedy slurpring and licking of lips from the pimps, robber barons, absentee landlords and sellers of dodgy sportswear who run our favourite clubs. 'We welcome BT as a new Premier League broadcast partner,' said Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore. 'They are a substantial British company that is at the leading edge of technology and infrastructure development.' He said BT would 'deliver new ways in which fans will be able to follow the competition.' He added: 'The continuing support of BSkyB for Premier League football is significant beyond the revenues delivered; the longevity and quality of their commitment has done much for the English game as a whole.'
