ZUEICH: FIFA has extended its rights deal with China’s state broadcaster which has run since the 1978 World Cup.
The global soccer body said on Wednesday that it has agreed to grant China Central Television (CCTV) the exclusive media rights in China for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, which will be held in Russia and Qatar respectively.
The deal with the state broadcaster includes all its other major international competitions until 2022, including the women’s World Cup in 2019.
It covered all media rights across all platforms including live, delayed and highlights rights, FIFA said in a statement that gave no financial terms.
FIFA said that CCTV, which has broadcast the World Cup in China since the 1978 edition in Argentina, reaches 99 percent of the population throughout the country and that “the partnership will help FIFA to reach the widest possible audience in China.”
“China has an important role to play in FIFA’s global development strategy,” FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura said.
“Our close partnership with CCTV, reinforced by this new two-cycle deal, will make the FIFA World Cup even more accessible to the Chinese audience, increase further the popularity of the game in the country, and support the development of Chinese football.”
China’s team failed to qualify for the 2018 tournament.
FIFA extends media rights in China to CCTV until 2022
FIFA extends media rights in China to CCTV until 2022
Eurovision Sport, Camb.ai to provide live subtitling for Paralympic Winter Games
- Partnership aims to increase accessibility for all audiences
- Milano Cortina Games run from Friday to March 15
LONDON: Eurovision Sport, the European Broadcasting Union’s free-to-air streaming platform, will provide live and on-demand subtitling for coverage of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games in partnership with AI language company Camb.ai
The service will run across all competition days, allowing viewers to stream all six Paralympic Winter Games sports on Eurovision Sport with real-time subtitles. The Games open on Friday and run through March 15.
Camb.ai will supply contextual speech-to-text transcription for both live and catch-up coverage, which the organizers said would support accessibility without altering the editorial integrity of broadcasts.
Eurovision Sport Managing Director Alan Fagan said the aim was to make the Games available to “the widest possible audience,” by scaling up digital accessibility across every event on the platform.
The initiative forms part of the EBU’s most extensive digital coverage of a Paralympic Winter Games to date and complements member broadcasters’ linear output.
It also reflects a wider industry push to make live sport easier to follow for viewers watching without sound, people with hearing impairments and audiences consuming content on demand.
Camb.ai’s Chief Technology Officer Akshat Prakash said the company was proud to deepen its partnership with Eurovision Sport, describing the platform as a leader in applying new technology to sports coverage.
The two organizations began working together in 2024, when they delivered what they described as Europe’s first AI-powered real-time translated sports commentary during European Athletics events.
