Russian Football Union agrees Channel One rights deal

Russian state broadcaster Channel One has agreed a deal with the Russian Football Union for rights to national team matches.

RFU president Vitaly Mutko announced the deal, without clarifying the exact terms of the agreement.

However, Channel One’s deputy managing director and general producer, Alexander Fayfman, told the Tass news agency that the contract relates to friendly games, initially through to the Uefa Euro 2016 national team tournament, which takes place in France this summer.

Mutko was quoted as saying by the R-Sport news agency: “The national team will be broadcast exclusively on Channel One. We have signed a contract with Channel One. We want to work with the channel until 2018. For now, the contract is valid until the European Championship.”