Europe

Stakeholders in the process to assign rights in Russia to the 2018 Fifa World Cup and the forthcoming Confederations Cup have claimed world football’s governing body is asking for too much for a deal in the host nation for the two tournaments.

Spain’s anti-trust regulator, the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y La Competencia (CNMC), has opened an investigation into the Mediapro agency in relation to possible anti-competitive practices.

The InfrontRingier agency has said the inaugural edition of Women’s Tennis Association tournament, the Ladies Open Biel Bienne, will set a first for the sport by providing live virtual reality coverage.

Chinese retail giant Suning has agreed a media and strategic partnership with the German Football League (DFL), according to Kicker.

Italian Serie A football club Juventus has launched an on-demand video platform for its international fan base.

UK pay-television broadcaster Sky is set to revamp its sports offering this summer, with dedicated channels to be launched for football, cricket and golf, according to the Daily Mail.

The International World Games Association has become the latest global sporting body to partner with the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Channel.

A collective of major broadcasters and Europe’s leading football organisations have joined forces to call on the G7 group of industrial nations to take action to tackle internet piracy.

Highlight Communications has said it has taken measures to ward off hostile takeover attempts as the dispute with its parent company, German media company Constantin Medien, continues.

Pan-European pay-television broadcaster Sky has acquired digital content producer Diagonal View.

Fifa, the global governing body of football, has opened an invitation to tender in Spain for the media rights to the 2017 Confederations Cup, the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 Women’s World Cup national team tournaments.

Clubs from Italy’s Serie A, the top division of domestic football, have unanimously approved a new set of guidelines for the centralised selling of the next package of rights to the league and other competitions.

German public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF have acquired rights to the 2017 Uefa European Under-21 Championship national team football tournament.

Dutch public-service broadcaster NOS has extended its rights deal for the Tour of Flanders, one of the five ‘monument’ events of cycling.

German sports broadcaster Sport1 has agreed a sublicensing deal with DAZN, the OTT service operated by digital sports media company Perform, for rights to North America’s Major League Baseball.

The England and Wales Cricket Board is seeking a threefold increase in the value of its domestic broadcast rights through the launch of its new Twenty20 competition, according to The Telegraph.