Ex-FIFA Executive Says He Got World Cup TV Rights for $1 - BusinessWeek

Former FIFA Vice President Jack Warner said he got the World Cup television rights for Trinidad & Tobago for $1 after helping Sepp Blatter get elected president of the soccer ruling body.

Warner, who quit world soccer’s governing body in June after accusations of bribery, said today in a statement that he got the rights from FIFA in 1998 via a Mexican company and also acquired them for the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 editions. He used the revenue from selling on the rights to develop the sport in the Caribbean, where he’s from, according to the statement.

Warner quit during a FIFA investigation into allegations about him and another vice president, Mohamed Bin Hamman. The pair was accused of giving Caribbean officials $40,000 in cash to gain support for Bin Hammam’s presidential campaign against Blatter. At the time, Warner denied wrongdoing and said he’d been “hung out to dry” after 30 years with FIFA.

Zurich-based FIFA said in an e-mail today “it will look into” Warner’s comments, and the organization’s London-based spokesman Brian Alexander declined to make any immediate response.

FIFA normally sells World Cup television rights directly to broadcasters, or sub-contracts companies to negotiate sales.

Warner said he refused to endorse Blatter in the June election even though he was offered the rights to the 2018 and 2022 World Cup for a nominal fee. He also alleged that he was offered other “inducements” to develop soccer in the region, including relaying turf at a stadium in Trinidad & Tobago and $1 million in grants, according to the statement.

Past Agreements

FIFA rescinded an agreement with International Media Content Ltd.’s SportsMax cable channel to broadcast the 2014 World Cup in the Caribbean after “only recently” becoming aware that a company owned by Warner negotiated the sale on behalf of the regional soccer association, the BBC reported Sept. 8, citing a FIFA letter to the association.

IMC had paid as much as $20 million for the rights to the 2010 and 2014 tournaments, the BBC said.

Hammam withdrew his candidacy in May, and Blatter was re- elected on June 1 as the only candidate. Hammam denies wrongdoing and is appealing a life ban from soccer at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Blatter in October announced plans to reform FIFA, which governs the sport and oversees the World Cup. The soccer showpiece tournament generates about $4 billion in television rights, sponsorship and other income.

--Editors: Christopher Elser, Bob Bensch.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tariq Panja in London at tpanja@bloomberg.net. Alex Duff in Madrid aduff4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net

Warner says he was gifted World Cup TV rights by FIFA - The Hindu

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
AP Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner. File photo Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner says he received World Cup television rights for one dollar in return for voting in favour of Joseph Blatter in presidential elections at the world governing football body.

Warner said in a statement issued on Thursday he was sold rights for the 1998, 2002 and 2006 World Cups after supporting Blatter in the presidential elections in those years.

He also said that he got the rights for the 2010 and 2014, through the Caribbean football body, for a nominal fee.

Warner said that the money generated from selling on the right was used for the development of football in his home country of Trinidad and Tobago, and the Caribbean.

FIFA said it was looking into Warner’s statement.

Warner was suspended by FIFA in connection with corruption allegations around the 2011 presidential campaign. He resigned from all football functions before a final FIFA ruling.

Warner was accused of having organized a meeting in which Blatter’s opponent for the presidency, Mohammed bin Hammam of Qatar, allegedly gave Caribbean football officials cash to vote him his favour.

Bin Hammam was banned for life from football by FIFA. He and Warner have protested their innocence.

Warner said that he and Bin Hammam in the past played critical roles in Blatter being elected FIFA boss in a bitter 1998 campaign against Sweden’s Lennart Johansson and then being re-elected later.

Blatter has pledged a reform of FIFA and more transparency since being re-elected in June.

Statement from Jerome Valcke on labour rights in Qatar - Fifa.com

We had a first meeting today with the International Trade Union Confederations (ITUC) about labour rights in Qatar in connection with the 2022 FIFA World Cup™. In the meeting it was agreed that FIFA and ITUC will work jointly over the next few months to address labour issues with the Qatari authorities. It was also agreed to add labour related criteria to the bidding process of future FIFA World Cups.

As the world governing body of the most popular sport we have a responsibility that goes beyond the development of football and the organisation of our competitions. FIFA upholds the respect for human rights and the application of international norms of behaviour as a principle and part of all our activities.

FIFA confirms Fox, Telemundo get US World Cup rights - USA Today

The FIFA logo is seen outside the FIFA headquarters during to the FIFA Executive Committee Meeting on October 20, 2011 in Zurich, Switzerland. Sports Business Journal reports that Fox has won rights for the next two World Cups.

By Harold Cunningham, Getty Images

The FIFA logo is seen outside the FIFA headquarters during to the FIFA Executive Committee Meeting on October 20, 2011 in Zurich, Switzerland. Sports Business Journal reports that Fox has won rights for the next two World Cups.

Fox agreed to pay more than $400 million for the two-tournament package, according to an official familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity.

ESPN paid $100 million to screen the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2014 event in Brazil.

Telemundo was awarded the Spanish-language deal by also defeating a rights holder, Univision, for football's showpiece tournament. Telemundo is owned by NBC Universal.

The contracts cover tournament finals in all FIFA competitions from 2015-22, also giving Fox the women's World Cup in 2015 and '19. It also secured all radio rights.

"We are truly honored for FIFA to award the Fox Sports Media Group these extremely important rights," chairman David Hill said in a statement. "The FIFA World Cup and Women's World Cup are two of the world's biggest competitions. It is our privilege to be entrusted with these rights in the United States."

FIFA did not disclose the value of the deals.

Fox adds football's biggest event to a portfolio of rights that includes the UEFA Champions League, the English Premier League and Italy's Serie A.

ESPN, which holds the English-language rights for the 2014 tournament in Brazil, earlier acknowledged defeat in its 2018-2022 bid.

"We made a disciplined bid that would have been both valuable to FIFA and profitable for our company, while continuing to grow our unprecedented coverage of the World Cup and Women's World Cup events," ESPN said in a statement. "We were aggressive while remaining prudent from a business perspective."

ESPN also broadcast the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after getting a two-tournament package with 2014 rights.

ESPN paid $100 million and Univision paid $325 million for its 2010-2014 deal, making the U.S. FIFA's most lucrative national market.

The 2018 World Cup will be held in Russia, and the 2022 tournament in Qatar.

FIFA made the decisions after the networks submitted bids at its Swiss headquarters on Wednesday and Thursday.

Spanish-language radio rights went to Futbol de Primera Radio.

FIFA earns about 90 percent of its revenue from broadcasting, sponsorship and marketing deals tied to the World Cup.

The world governing body of football calculates it earned $2.4 billion in broadcast sales worldwide just for the 2010 tournament.

Qatar defeated the U.S. in the final round of voting for the 2022 World Cup in a five-country contest last December.

FIFA announced in March that it already sold $1.7 billion worth of 2018-2022 broadcast rights to the Middle East and parts of Asia and Latin America. The deals were 90 percent more valuable than the same territories earned for 2010-2014, FIFA said.

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CAF adopt commercial rights centralised-KickOff

Posted: 2011-06-04 11: 42 am

The Congress of the Confederation of African football has adopted centralisation enormously divisive commercial rights for the qualifying matches of the FIFA World Cup 2014.

A statement by CAF following the Congress held in Zurich on May 31, said that the decision was unanimous.

Based on solidarity and a fair income distribution system, all members of national associations of CAF adopt unanimously the centralization of trade rights, related to the African zone preliminary World Cup, Brazil 2014, says CAF.

Centralized rights has proved thorny for CAF, with resistance to the idea from national federations such as Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, which have contractual obligations.