South Korean broadcaster JBTC has acquired rights to the South Korean national team’s first two matches in the final round of qualifying for the 2014 Fifa World Cup football tournament, in a deal with the World Sport Group agency.
The deal secured nationwide television coverage of South Korea’s away match against Qatar on June 8, and the home game against Lebanon on June 12.
JBTC was awarded the rights after the World Sport Group agency was unable to agree a deal with a consortium of Korean broadcasters which included KBS, MBC and SBS.
World Sport Group said the consortium refused to match the rights fee paid for the equivalent package of rights for 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
“While World Sport Group sincerely regrets the failure to agree a deal with the Korean TV consortium, the company is duty-bound to work in the commercial interests of all 46 member associations of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and was therefore unable to accept the terms on offer,” the agency said.