Indian pay-television broadcaster Neo Sports has acquired rights for the 2015 and 2016 editions of the Fifa Club World Cup football competition.
The deal marks the broadcaster’s first venture into club football. Neo Sports acquired the rights for the tournament from the Dentsu agency.
Neo Sports executive vice-president of programming Mautik Tolia told the indiantelevision.com website: “Last time the tournament created a lot of buzz and the quality of football was also premium. We went aggressively for the rights because we feel this is a great time to have a Fifa tournament.”
This year’s Club World Cup takes place in Japan from December 10-20. The tournament is competed for by the winners of the six continental competitions and the current champion of the host nation.
Last year’s tournament was staged in Morocco and was won by Spanish LaLiga club Real Madrid. Rival Barcelona is set to feature in this year’s edition as the current holder of the Uefa Champions League.