BEIJING, Feb 28 — Asian football's governing body has handed the China broadcast rights for its competitions to China Sports Media (CSM), it said today, a day after Reuters reported the AFC had torn up its agreement with LeSports after it failed to pay an instalment.
The AFC said in a statement that CSM would take over the rights for the rest of the 2017-2020 commercial cycle after being left with "no alternative but to terminate its contract with Le TV".
The AFC had signed the previous deal, worth more than US$100 million (RM444 million), in 2015, giving the sports unit of Chinese tech firm LeEco exclusive rights to broadcast AFC matches including the Asian Champions League and 2018 World cup qualifiers.
Sources had told Reuters that the agreement was cancelled last week after LeSports failed to pay the latest instalment on the contract.
The new deal had been agreed with CSM Chairman Li Yidong, AFC General Secretary Datuk Windsor John said, adding that it reflected the growing interest of AFC competitions in China.
"The AFC's competitions go from strength to strength year on year and this is also reflected in the audience numbers for our broadcasters across the continent," he said.
"We look forward to working with CSM in the next few years as they are committed to providing the best and most comprehensive coverage of the AFC competitions for the tens of millions of Asian football fans in China," he said.
Continued coverage
With Chinese club Shanghai SIPG hosting Australian side Western Sydney Wanderers in the group stage of the Asian Champions League later today, there were concerns the contract issue could affect broadcast coverage.
However, the AFC said the agreement with sports marketing firm CSM meant there would be "uninterrupted coverage of this week's Asian Champions League fixtures in China".
LeSports had made a last-minute payment in December to ensure it was able to honour its commitments to broadcast the English Premier League.
It signed a two-year deal at the start of 2016 worth 2.7 billion yuan (US$392.70 million, RM1.75 billion) for the exclusive rights to the Chinese Super League and announced plans to purchase a stake in the Beijing Guoan club, although that deal was not completed.
LeEco's billionaire chief executive, Jia Yueting, said in a letter to staff in November that the conglomerate was facing cash shortages and the announcement of cuts to staffing levels at LeSports followed in December.
While the Chinese national team continues to struggle, the domestic game has experienced a huge surge of interest thanks to the influx of a host of high-profile, and highly paid, foreign players such as Brazilian Oscar and Argentina's Carlos Tevez. — Reuters
