United Arab Emirates

The IEC in Sports agency has agreed a four-year deal to distribute the global media rights for the Dubai Marathon on an exclusive basis with immediate effect.

British Eurosport, the UK division of pan-European sports broadcaster Eurosport, and UK free-to-air channel Quest will broadcast live coverage of the 2014 Dubai Challenge Cup one-off exhibition football match.

Sports content company Aurora Media Worldwide has signed a two-year agreement with the Falcon and Associates agency to support host broadcaster, state-owned Dubai Sports, in its coverage of badminton’s World Superseries Finals event, which will be held in Dubai next month.

All UAE-based sports broadcasters have united to boycott the acquisition of rights to the forthcoming 2014 Gulf Cup of Nations national team football tournament amid a dispute over the sales process, according to the Gulf News website.

State-owned television channel Dubai Sports has agreed a deal for the host broadcast rights to cycling’s inaugural Dubai Tour, which will take place from February 5-8 next year.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has agreed a deal to carry Sport 24, the live sports channel produced and distributed by the IMG Media agency exclusively for the in-flight and in-ship markets.

Pay-television broadcaster Abu Dhabi Media has blamed an “extremely unrealistic” price demand for its failure to extend its broadcast rights deal for English Premier League football, according to the Sport 360 newspaper.

State-owned Abu Dhabi Media Company and Dubai Media Incorporated have agreed an extension to their rights deal with the Pro League Committee, the organising body of the Arabian Gulf League – the top division of football in the UAE.