January 26, 2004 – ESPN STAR Sports, – Asia’s number 1 sports broadcaster today announced the successful acquisition of UEFA EURO 2004™ broadcasting rights for the Indian Sub-continent. ‘UEFA EURO 2004™’, second most important soccer property after the ‘FIFA World Cup Soccer’, will be played amongst historical favourties like France, England, Italy and Germany. 16 European teams will participate in the ‘UEFA Euro 2004™’, which will be held in Portugal from 12 June to 4 July 2004.
UEFA EURO 2004™ is a tournament played among 16 of the 51 member associations registered with UEFA. Fifty of UEFA’s 51 participating teams were included in the draw to qualify for the first 15 spots with host Portugal qualifying automatically. The 16 teams who qualified for the UEFA EURO 2004™ are Portugal, Greece, Spain, Russia (Group A), France, England, Switzerland, Croatia (Group B), Sweden, Bulgaria, Denmark, Italy (Group C) and Czech Republic, Latvia, Germany, Holland (Group D).
UEFA EURO 2004™ will showcase a bonanza of 31 thrilling matches including 24 First Round matches, four Quarterfinal matches and two semifinal matches from June 12. The final will be played in Lisbon on July 4, 2004. The festival of football will be witnessed in eight cities – Braga, Guimaraes, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Leiria, Lisbon and Faro-Loule – in Portugal.
While telecasting this mega event LIVE and Exclusive in the Indian Sub-continent, ESPN STAR Sports will also produce daily half hour pre-match highlights complemented with four weekly one-hour highlights.
This phenomenal football package will also include specially taped programmes such as ‘The Story of the UEFA European Football Championships™’, ‘The Road to UEFA EURO 2004™’, ‘The Golden Moments’, ‘The Stars of the UEFA European Football Championships™’ and ‘The Stars of UEFA EURO 2004™’.
With this latest acquisition ESPN STAR Sports’ delivers the most complete sports programming, by any broadcaster, with exclusive telecast rights of English Premier League (EPL), UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup and Spanish Primera Liga among its stable of top-flight programming. The network also recently concluded an exclusive four-year agreement with England’s governing body of football, The Football Association (The FA).
UEFA EURO 2004™ – which started in 1960 – is held once every four years. Termed ‘the biggest sporting challenge’ UEFA EURO 2004™ is played with great atmosphere and with a highly exciting on-site experience. With the increased interest of football in Asia after the FIFA World Cup in Japan/Korea and
with the extensive coverage of major European football leagues, UEFA EURO 2004™ is expected to bring in high interest from the Asian audience.
Schedule for the UEFA EURO 2004™
Group A
June 12 Portugal Vs Greece Porto
Spain Vs Russia Faro-Loule
June 16 Greece Vs Spain Porto
Russia Vs Portugal Lisbon
June 20 Russia Vs Greece Faro-Loule
Spain Vs Portugal Lisbon
Group B
June 13 Switzerland Vs Croatia Leiria
France Vs England Lisbon
June 17 England Vs Switzerland Coimbra
Croatia Vs France Leiria
June 21 Croatia Vs England Lisbon
Switzerland Vs France Coimbra
Group C
June 14 Denmark Vs Italy Guimaraes
Sweden Vs Bulgaria Lisbon
June 18 Bulgaria Vs Denmark Braga
Italy Vs Sweden Porto
June 22 Italy Vs Bulgaria Guimaraes
Denmark Vs Sweden Porto
Group D
June 15 Germany Vs Holland Porto
Czech Rep Vs Latvia Aveiro
June 19 Latvia Vs Germany Porto
Holland Vs Czech Rep Aveiro
June 23 Holland Vs Latvia Braga
Germany Vs Czech Rep Lisbon
Quarterfinals – June 24, June 25, June 26 and June 27
Semifinals – June 30 and July 1
Final – July 4
For further information, please contact:
Stephenie Vasko, ESPN STAR Sports tel: (65) 6488 6126 or email: vaskos@espnstar.com
For the latest schedules and programme information visit www.espnstar.com