Setanta completes England World Cup qualifier line-up

by Maisie McCabe, Media Week 05-Sep-08, 11:05

LONDON - Setanta, the sports broadcaster, now has the rights to live broadcasts of all England away 2010 World Cup qualifiers, having secured the rights to show the national team's game in the Ukraine next year.

England away fixtures in 2008 include Andorra v England tomorrow, (Saturday), and games against Croatia on 10 September and against Belarus on 15 October.

This week, ITV and BBC insiders accused Setanta of failing to offer highlights of the England games at a realistic price, in the hope of forcing viewers to subscribe to its service. Setanta's director of sport, Trevor East, hit back by claiming that neither broadcaster had made an offer and that they were trying to secure a cheap deal by spreading rumours.

Setanta recently signed a deal with IPTV service provider Inuk to broadcast its channels to university students. The Inuk service allows students to watch more than 50 TV channels on their computers through Janet, the university data network.

Last month, Setanta hired former England manager Terry Venables and Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp as presenters for the next three England away qualifiers.