Europe

BeIN Media Group has formed a channel dedicated to ‘El Clásico’ in Spain ahead of the LaLiga football clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid on Saturday.

Swiss public-service broadcaster SRG SSR has acquired exclusive rights for the new Women’s Tennis Association Ladies Open Biel/Bienne tournament.

International pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports has extended rights agreements in Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Malta and Turkey for the Ski Classics long-distance skiing championship and also agreed a new deal for the series in the Netherlands.

The Infront Sports & Media agency has confirmed that Marco Bogarelli, president of its Italian division, and Giuseppe Ciocchetti, managing director of the regional subsidiary, are to leave the company.

ITN Productions has appointed Tim Godfrey as partnerships director within its sports production business as the company seeks to build its presence in the sector.

International sports broadcaster Eurosport has today (Monday) confirmed it will be the exclusive home of the Olympic Games in Germany from 2018 to 2024, beginning with the 2018 winter Games in Pyeongchang.

UK pay-television broadcaster Sky has signed a new four-year partnership with the England Netball governing body.

German sports broadcaster Sport1 has acquired rights for the European Handball Federation Women’s European Championships.

French pay-television broadcaster SFR Sport has broadened its football portfolio by acquiring rights to Portuguese knockout competitions the Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga.

Two individuals have been sanctioned after a court found them guilty of providing illegal streams of German pay-television broadcaster Sky Deutschland’s coverage of the Bundesliga, the top division of domestic football.

The board of the DFL, the German football league, has unveiled a new media-rights income distribution model across the top two divisions in the country, the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga.

Public-service broadcaster Czech TV has extended an agreement for rights to the Ski Classics long-distance skiing championship, while public-service operator Sport TV has signed on as the series’ media partner in Slovenia.

Spanish agency Mediapro has hailed a ruling by the commercial court of A Coruña that it believes will lead to the “disappearance” of the Rojadirecta website as a platform for illegal access to football coverage.

Vitaly Mutko, the president of the Russian Football Union, will hold talks with Fifa over the sale of media rights for the 2018 World Cup in the country after the proposed fee rocketed, according to the Tass news agency.

Michael Lang has been promoted by media company Discovery Networks International to the role of president of international development, digital and Discovery Nordics.

The British Touring Car Championship motor racing series has agreed a two-season extension to its partnership with the Haymarket Consumer Media division of UK media company Haymarket Media Group.