Russian state-controlled commercial broadcaster Channel One has acquired rights to the national football team’s forthcoming friendly games, which will also be live streamed by social media platforms VKontakte and Odnoklassnik.
As part of its latest round of friendly matches ahead of staging the 2018 Fifa World Cup, Russia is due to face Argentina tomorrow (Saturday) in Moscow before taking on Spain in St. Petersburg on November 14.
The Sports.ru website said that Channel One has picked up television rights to the games, but added that the Telesport agency has also brokered deals for them to be live streamed by VKontakte and Odnoklassnik.
Sports.ru said the initiative is also set to see Russian national team players answer questions submitted by users of the platforms after the games and during the half-time breaks.