Singapore, 17 April 2015 – Infront Sports & Media, the international sports marketing company, has closed a series of three agreements with members of the Asian Football Confederation: the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), the Lao Football Federation (LFF) and the Football Association of Thailand (FAT). For each, Infront is to handle the distribution of international media rights for home matches, including both qualifiers and friendlies. The additional agreements bring the number of Asian national football teams in the Infront portfolio to four – including the partnership with the Qatar Football Association (handled through the AspireInfront joint venture).
The announcement follows the official draw for the second qualification round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ and the preliminary round of the AFC Asian Cup 2019, which took place this Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The qualifier opponents for each of the three teams are:
- Bangladesh (Group B): Australia, Jordan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan
- Laos (Group G): Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Myanmar
- Thailand (Group F): Iraq, Vietnam, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei
As part of the individual contracts with all three football associations, Infront will exclusively distribute the international media rights of the respective A team as well as U-23 and U-19 home matches. Furthermore, international friendly matches staged in the countries are also part of each agreement - including the King’s Cup in Thailand and the Bangabandhu Gold Cup hosted by Bangladesh.
As part of these multi-year agreements, Infront will market all live/delayed, highlight and news rights across all platforms and for all territories outside of the respective domestic territories. Throughout the year, each country’s A team competes in approximately six to seven matches that will be available to broadcasters worldwide.
Ian Mathie, Managing Director of Infront Pan-Asia, added: “Football is king in Asia with national team matches and competitions creating key content for broadcasters. As the Infront Group keeps growing its footprint in Asia, we are honoured to add these emerging football properties to our portfolio. Our target throughout the coming years will be to further boost the visibility of Asian football from youth to elite level, helping to promote the teams and players internationally.”
About Infront Sports & Media
Infront Sports & Media is the most respected sports marketing company in the world, managing a comprehensive portfolio of top properties. Led by President & CEO Philippe Blatter, Infront covers all aspects of successful sporting events – including distribution of media rights, sponsorship, media production and event operation – and has won a reputation for its high standards of delivery. As the number one player in winter sport and with a leading role in football and summer sports, Infront enjoys long-lasting partnerships with 160 rights-holders and hundreds of sponsors and media companies. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Infront has a team of experienced staff working from 25 offices across 13 countries, delivering 4,000 event days of top class sport around the world every year.
