Abu Dhabi Media wins broadcast rights to Euro and Uefa World Cup qualifying

The company announced on Sunday that it has won the rights to Euro 2016 qualifying and Uefa World Cup qualifying for 2018, to be shown on Abu Dhabi Sports.

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Abu Dhabi Media announced on Sunday that it has acquired the broadcasting rights in the Mena region for Uefa European Championship Qualifiers beginning in September 2014.

The qualifiers will take place across the end of 2014 and throughout 2015 for the 2016 tournament, to be held in France.

The qualifying draw will be held at the Palais de Congres Acropolis in Nice, France on February 23, 2014.

“Abu Dhabi Media is always keen to meet sports fans’ expectations and we have succeeded in turning ADTV Sports into the ultimate destiantion for local, regional and worldwide sports events. These efforts translate our commitment to meeting our audience’s interests, especially sports fans in the UAE and Mena region, and delivering a real-life experience of sports for prominent leagues and championships from the comfort of their homes,” said acting Abu Dhabi Media CEO Saif Ghobash.

The 53 elgibile Uefa members will be drawn into eight groups of six and a ninth group of five. The competition will expand to 24 qualifying teams for 2016, up from 16 at previous Euros. The nine group winners and runners up plus the best third-placed team will qualify automatically, joining hosts France. The remaining eight third-placed teams will be drawn into four two-legged play-offs to round out the field of 24.

On Sunday, Abu Dhabi Media also announced it acquired the rights Uefa qualifying for the 2018 Fifa World Cup, set to be staged in Russia.

World Cup qualifying for Uefa will take place from September 2016 to November 2017.

The company said it will have at least 546 matches available for broadcast – 258 Euro qualifiers and 258 World Cup qualifiers, plus a minimum of 30 friendlies from the host nations (France, Euro 2016 and Russia, World Cup 2018).

“Our strategic approach has enabled us to employ the latest in TV broadcast technology and transformed the local media scene to meet international standards. Uefa media rights’ acquisition is another milestone recorded in Abu Dhabi Media’s list of achievements,’ said Ghobash.

Abu Dhabi Media is the parent company of The National newspaper.