FIFA reaches N.Korea World Cup broadcast deal:

FIFA reaches N.Korea World Cup broadcast deal: report


25 minutes ago

SEOUL — FIFA has signed a deal to try to air World Cup matches live in North Korea, a South Korean news report said Tuesday, days after the communist state allegedly broadcast a pirate recording of the opening fixture.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said FIFA -- football's world governing body -- had reached an agreement with the Asian-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) to deliver matches live to the North.

"FIFA is working with ABU to get the signal to North Korea," Yonhap quoted FIFA as saying, though the body did not provide terms of the deal due to the sensitivity of the matter.

"We expect that they show the matches live subject to FIFA guidelines and instructions."

North and South Korea both have teams competing in South Africa and the South's broadcaster SBS holds tournament broadcasting rights for the entire Korean peninsula.

On Saturday Yonhap quoted SBS as saying the North's Korean Central Broadcast Service had aired Friday's opening 1-1 draw between hosts South Africa and Mexico -- without authorisation.

SBS said it had sought to provide World Cup broadcasts to North Korea, but negotiations had been halted amid tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang over the sinking of a South Korean warship in March.

Seoul has concluded that a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sank the 1,200-tonne corvette Cheonan with the loss of 46 lives, while Pyongyang has denied it was responsible and has warned of reprisals if it is punished.

A spokesman for SBS said last week that the station would not be broadcasting World Cup games to North Korea after negotiations over a fee with the impoverished communist state broke down.

North Korea, which has qualified for the World Cup for first time in 44 years, wanted the South to provide free footage, as it had done for the 2006 tournament in Germany.

Four years ago, the then-liberal government in Seoul -- which practised a "sunshine" engagement policy with Pyongyang -- spent 150 million won (132,600 dollars) subsidising the broadcasts to North Korea.

South Korea on Saturday beat Greece 2-0 in their first game of the 2010 World Cup, while North Korea face the might of Brazil on Tuesday.