67th Santosh Trophy: Semifinals & Final live on DD Sports

DD Sports will telecast live the semifinals and final of the 67th Santosh Trophy from the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi, Kerala. The two semifinals are scheduled on February 28 and March 1 while the final will take place on March 3, 2013.

The 67th edition of the National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy is being co-hosted by the states of Uttar Pradesh and Kerala with matches played from February 1 to March 3. From the Quarterfinal League onwards the tournament is being played in Kerala only.

VIDEO - TenAction+: I-League 2012/13 Promo

The I-League is set to kick-off later today across India with Ten Sports retaining the rights to show up to 75 matches live and delayed on their TenAction+ channel. Here the promo of the channels I-League coverage on the opening weekend.

BREAKING NEWS: IMG-Reliance signs long-term broadcast deal with Ten Sports for I-League & Federation Cup!

IMG-Reliance, the commercial partner of All India Football Federation, today announced a three-year deal, contracting Ten Sports to broadcast I-League and Federation Cup competitions across various platforms, such as Television, IPTV, DTH, HITS, Internet TV and Mobile.

As part of this deal, TEN Sports will broadcast the I-League competition through its football channel TenAction+, for three consecutive seasons starting with the 2012/13 season this weekend.

With the I-League competition kicking off on October 6, 2012, TenAction+ will telecast 75 matches of the league live and delayed throughout the season. Football fans across the country can catch the inaugural day action between Pailan Arrow vs Mumbai FC to be played at the Saltlake Stadium in Kolkata at 2.30 pm and the Goan derby Dempo SC vs Churchill Brothers SC to be played at the Nehru Stadium in Margao at 5.30 pm.

As part of the deal TenAction+ also has the mandate for telecasting the Federation Cup competition for the next two seasons starting 2013.

AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said, "The fiercely contested Federation Cup, concluded recently, has set the ball rolling for the 2012/13 football calendar year. The I-League competition brings in even more enthusiasm and excitement, as the clubs are eager to renew their rivalry and fight it out from Round One."

Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande said, "We are delighted to partner with IMG-Reliance to telecast I-League and Federation Cup, two of India's premier football tournaments." He went on to add, "Ten Sports has always supported Indian football and we continue committed to our vision of enhancing and adding value to the sport."

The spokesperson for IMG-Reliance said, "We are happy to bring Ten Sports on board as a broadcast partner in (Indian) football. Having a long-term partnership with the broadcaster is an important step in ensuring quality and continuous coverage of the two competitions. This is one of many initiatives IMG-Reliance has undertaken and we remain committed to the development of Indian football."

34th Federation Cup: DD Sports to telecast Semifinals & Final!

There is good news for Indian football fans then there will be coverage from the 34th Federation Cup!

The All India Football Federation has informed the media that the two semifinals on September 27 and 28 plus the final on September 30 of the 34th Federation Cup will be telecast live on Doordarshan Sports from Siliguri, West Bengal. But there will be no live coverage from the ongoing group stage of the tournament.

This positive news for fans of Indian football comes after talks of coverage from the tournament on TenAction+ had failed to yield a result and it had been feared that there could be no coverage from the tournament at all.

VIDEO - NDTV: India win Nehru Cup

India beat Cameroon 7-6 on penalties last night to defend their Nehru Cup title, their third in a row. Here the post-match report from NDTV.

VIDEO: Neo Prime Promo for 2012 Nehru Cup

Neo Prime is the official television broadcaster of the 2012 Nehru Cup. And for their coverage the sports channel has created some promotional spots, which can be seen here.

The only issue here for me is that the spot contains Jeje Lalpekhlua and Lalrindika Ralte, who both aren't part of the India squad for the tournament...

VIDEO: Interview with Wim Koevermans (India Coach)

The Bengali XtraTime sports TV program on ABP Ananda caught-up with new Indian national football team coach Wim Koevermans to speak with him about his first impressions of his new team and what he hopes to achieve.

VIDEO: Comparing the Coaches of the Kolkata Maidan giants

Fellow journalist Prosun Biswas works for Bengali news channel Rplus and they on their show football.com did an interesting piece on the coaches of the three Kolkata giants - Trevor James Morgan (East Bengal Club), Santosh Kashyap (Mohun Bagan AC) and Aloke Mukherjee (Mohammedan Sporting Club) - looking at their clubs chances in the new season, allowing the coaches to speak about their aims and also allowing former players to give their judgement.

The report is in Bengali

UEFA under fire due to doctering Euro2012 Live TV-feed

The European football governing body UEFA is under fire because of showing recorded pre-match footage during live football matches of the 2012 European Championships in Poland and the Ukraine. Especially in Germany the outcry has been huge due to two instances where it was been proven that recorded footage had been placed into the live feed.

With the television feed produced centrally by UEFA and then distributed to all official rights holders, the channels themselves do not know what they are getting and if a scene is live or has been added by the live director.

The German state television broadcasters ARD and ZDF, who share the live rights for the Euro2012, had already protested after the first instance when Joachim Löw pinching a ball from a ball boy during his teams Group B match against the Netherlands. But later it was disclosed that the footage was pre-recorded and Löw didn't do such mischief during a high tension football match.

Then came the second instance which to me is even worse. A German female fan is shown crying after Mario Balotelli scores his second of the night against Germany. But again the footage was not live, it had actually been recorded when the German anthem was being played. A total distortion of facts and reality which is dangerous especially with off field football.

UEFA claims it was trying to show "the human story of the game... to translate the emotion and tension of German fans", but had now issued instructions "not to use these reactions again directly in a chain of replays of live action, to avoid any misleading understanding".


Here the footage of the Löw incidence, recorded pre-match & telecast as live

Früh Kölsch SportTalk: Tomorrow - A look back at Euro2012

On Monday evening, July 2 I will be moderating my SportTalk show here in Germany - the Früh Kölsch SportTalk from the Bergische Sportarena in Wermelskirchen will be once more coming from a pub within a sports indoor complex.

The topic tomorrow night will be the just concluded 2012 European Championships in Poland and the Ukraine with guests on the show being long-time friend and fellow journalist Chris Punnakkattu Daniel, former German international and now Wuppertaler SV coach Hans-Günter Bruns, FC Remscheid manager Mike Zintner and journalist colleague Peter Kuhlendahl from our local newspaper Remscheider General-Anzeiger.

It will be live on the Internet (in German) as a livestream from 19.30 CET (18.30 GMT / 23.00 IST) onwards at www.livestream.com/rs1tv


Here the details in German about the talkshow:

Am Montag, den 2.Juli 2012 gibt es den Früh Kölsch SportTalk auf rs1.tv!

An diesem Abend ab 19.30 Uhr wird der 'Früh Kölsch SportTalk' aus der Bergischen Sportarena in Wermelskirchen als Livestream auf rs1.tv übertragen. Es wird 90 Minuten lang vor Live Publikum ( Eintrittskarten auf Anfrage bei der Bergischen Sportarena ) um den Sport aus und um Remscheid herum mit Gästen aus dem lokalen Sport, Journalisten und Sportstars. Aber es wird nicht nur über lokales gesprochen sondern auch um nationalen und internationalen Sport.

In unserer nächsten Sendung am 2.Juli wird die Fußball-Euroameisterschaft 2012 das Thema sein.

Die Gäste der Sendung sind: Hans-Günter Bruns (Trainer, Wuppertaler SV), Mike Zintner (Manager, FC Remscheid), Peter Kuhlendahl (Remscheider General-Anzeiger) und Chris Punnakkattu Daniel (Journalist)


Hier nochmals die wichtigsten Informationen zusammengefasst:


LIVE aus der Bergischen Sportarena in Wermelskirchen
Der Früh Kölsch SportTalk
präsentiert von rs1.tv
Sendungsbeginn: 19.30 Uhr jeweils Montags alle zwei/drei Wochen

Tischreservierung oder zu anderen Fragen, Bitte bei der Bergischen Sportarena melden!

Die nächste Sendung findet am 9.Juli statt. Thema dann Tennis (Wimbledon & die Herren-40 von SC Rot-Weiss Remscheid).

Die darauffolgende Sendung findet Ende-August/Anfang-September statt!

VIDEO: Netherlands vs Germany: Post-Match Analysis with Renedy Singh & Godwin Franco

For the Netherlands vs Germany match at Euro2012 the Indian footballers of Renedy Singh and Godwin Franco were in my home town of Remscheid, Germany. Here comes the Post-Match Analysis with the two from Wednesday at the Fanmeile Remscheid!

Euro2012: iStream.com to livestream Neo Prime broadcast in India

The official broadcaster of the UEFA Euro2012 championships for the Indian subcontinent Neo Prime has tied-up with premier video portal iStream.com to provide exclusive live streaming in India of the Neo Prime telecast.

Neo Prime hopes to get a tangible online viewership which will help to boast its ad sales which have been positive for the channel, which hopes to generate upto Rs 500 (50 crores) through Euro2012.

The UEFA Euro2012 broadcast on Neo Prime will be streamed live on a dedicated segment within istream.com, and the fans would also have access to the content on demand for a full month both through www.neosports.tv and the www.istream.com sites. Fans would also be access and enjoy extensive support programming around the event, including pre-and after match highlights, team and player stats, profiles, trivia and other related clips from the mega football event, being jointly hosted by Poland and the Ukraine.

Neo Sports Broadcast Ltd COO Prasana Krishnan said, "The consumer traction for International football is at its zenith in India. We aim to delight the fans by providing live coverage of the biggest football extravaganza of the year across multiple touch points including on-air and online. Neo Prime is delighted to partner with iStream.com for live streaming of the Neo Broadcast of UEFA EURO 2012. The aggressive marketing plan is bound to see unprecedented online traffic for this blockbuster event."

"UEFA EURO 2012 is one of the most anticipated sporting events this calendar and we are happy to partner with Neo Sports to stream an event of this magnitude on the internet in India. We believe that football has a strong pull among the Internet audiences in the country and this is part of our overall strategy to build a strong sports vertical for istream.com. We plan to bring in more such exclusive partnerships in the online video space," iStream founder and CEO Radhakrishnan Ramachandran added.

Could Shahrukh Khan be the saviour of Indian football?

Since last week when for the first time the news came out that Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan is in talks with I-League champions Dempo SC to buy a 50% stake in the Goan giants there has been a lot of talk about what Shahrukh Khan's foray into Indian football could mean for the beautiful game in India.

If one just has a look at the media coverage, the buzz on social media and the interest people took in this story then it shows that if someone of the stature of Shahrukh Khan got actively involved in Indian club football it could give the game a push in the right direction, it would surely draw more media attention to the I-League and its clubs.

But many see Shahrukh Khan as a potential messiahs or somewhat of a saviour for Indian football, who would usher in a new era; a more commercially viable era in Indian club football is what the owners hope for. If one looks at Shahrukh Khan's Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders then commercial success has been a forte of KKR, but it had only some influence on the IPL as a whole which in the midterm has been anything but profitable overall for the franchises.

Surely Shahrukh Khan coming in would mean a lot of attention, potential sponsors and investors would look up and maybe join in, but from my talks with different people in the business I know many are sceptical of the current situation, while some are honestly worried. These people want financial benefits, return on investments rather then a good show which Bollywood and its glitz stands for.

But there lies the difficulty of the I-League and Indian club football. This difficult balancing act is something the people in-charge need to understand and use this opportunity of maybe having Shahrukh Khan as a co-owner to push the I-League into a direction where commercial entities see a value of sponsoring India's premier football league and TV channels fight over the rights to broadcast it.

Only then can the I-League move ahead into a better future...

Früh Kölsch SportTalk: Euro2012 tomorrow nights topic

On Monday evening, June 4 I will be moderating my SportTalk show here in Germany - the Früh Kölsch SportTalk from the Bergische Sportarena in Wermelskirchen will be once more coming from a pub within a sports indoor complex.

The topic tomorrow night will be the upcoming 2012 European Championships in Poland and the Ukraine with guests on the show being long-time friend and fellow journalist Chris Punnakkattu Daniel, former Polish international Thomas Zdebel, German fourth division top scorer Christian Knappmann from Wuppertaler SV and defender Markus Hosnjak from FC Remscheid.

It will be live on the Internet (in German) as a livestream from 19.30 CET (18.30 GMT / 23.00 IST) onwards at www.livestream.com/rs1tv


Here the details in German about the talkshow:

Am Montag, den 4.Juni 2012 gibt es den Früh Kölsch SportTalk auf rs1.tv!

An diesem Abend ab 19.30 Uhr wird der 'Früh Kölsch SportTalk' aus der Bergischen Sportarena in Wermelskirchen als Livestream auf rs1.tv übertragen. Es wird 90 Minuten lang vor Live Publikum ( Eintrittskarten auf Anfrage bei der Bergischen Sportarena ) um den Sport aus und um Remscheid herum mit Gästen aus dem lokalen Sport, Journalisten und Sportstars. Aber es wird nicht nur über lokales gesprochen sondern auch um nationalen und internationalen Sport.

In unserer nächsten Sendung am 4.Juni wird die Fußball-Euroameisterschaft 2012 das Thema sein.

Die Gäste der Sendung sind: Thomas Zdebel (ex-Fußballer), Christian Knappmann (Stürmer Wuppertaler SV - Regionalliga Torschützenkönig), Markus Hosnjak (Spieler FC Remscheid), Chris Punnakkattu Daniel (Journalist)


Hier nochmals die wichtigsten Informationen zusammengefasst:


LIVE aus der Bergischen Sportarena in Wermelskirchen
Der Früh Kölsch SportTalk
präsentiert von rs1.tv
Sendungsbeginn: 19.30 Uhr jeweils Montags alle zwei/drei Wochen

Für Karten der Sendung Bitte bei der Bergischen Sportarena melden!

Die darauffolgende Sendungen findet im Juli nach der EM2012 statt.

VIDEO: Srinivas Dempo speaks about Shahrukh Khan's interest

Dempo SC chairman Srinivas Dempo speaks on Goan TV channel Goa365 about his football team and the interest from Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan. What makes this interview so interesting is the fact that Srinivas Dempo highlights that the deal is not as close as others in the media have reported and that details would have to be worked out. So lets wait and see what happens...

VIDEO: IFA Medical Unit Story follow-up

A few days ago I posted the interesting and investigate piece by fellow journalist Prosun Biswas for a Bengali news channel on the erstwhile medical unit of the Indian Football Association (West Bengal) which used to be based at the Eden Gardens, but after renovation work disappeared. Now he has done a follow-up piece on reactions regarding that story which does include my blog and what the doctors say about the old equipment lying to rot at the Saltlake Stadium.

The report is in Bengali




Here the link to the original report: VIDEO: IFA (West Bengal) medical unit disappearance .

VIDEO: IFA (West Bengal) medical unit disappearance

Fellow journalist Prosun Biswas did this interesting and investigate piece for a Bengali news channel on the erstwhile medical unit of the Indian Football Association (West Bengal) which used to be based at the Eden Gardens. It was mainly intended for footballers playing on the Kolkata Maidans, but since the renovation of Eden Gardens ahead of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup the office and the medical equipment had to removed and since then the medical unit has no home with the equipment lying at the Saltlake Stadium to rot.

The report is in Bengali

Record TV revenue for German Bundesliga

The German Football League (Deutsche Fussball Liga, DFL) yesterday announced the new television contract for the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga following an extraordinary general meeting of the 36 current clubs and capital companies of the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga in Frankfurt/Main. The new deal for the four seasons from 2013/14 to 2016/17 which will see an increase in revenues of 52% from around 1,6 Billion Euros to over 2,5 Billion Euros. That amounts to about 628 Million Euros per year on average, compared with 412 Million Euros per year of the current three year deal which ends next season.

The DFL maintained what it called the 'Classic' television coverage for the next cycle as pay TV channel Sky continues to show all matches of the Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga live acquiring the pay-TV rights for cable, satellite, terrestrial and IPTV, as well as web TV and mobile phone distribution; which overall is more then in the current package which it had shared with the German Telekom.

The DFL also has maintained its free-to-air packages with ARD, ZDF and Sport1. ARD will continue to show Bundesliga from 18.30 onwards on Saturdays with the ZDF showing the late Saturday kick-off game in its Sportstudio program, while Sport1 can show highlights on Sunday morning as well as in its Doppelpass talkshow.

The ARD will furthermore continue to offer highlights of the Sunday matches and has also secured a seven-game package for live broadcast on free-to-air TV. This encompasses the opening games of the season and post-winter break restart, the promotion/relegation play-offs and the pre-season Supercup.

For the first time, the Axel Springer publishing house has secured utilisation rights from the DFL. From 2013-14 onwards, Axel Springer especially through its Bild.de platform will be able to offer clips from all the games on web TV and mobile phone networks. The clips will be available for a fee from an hour after the end of the games, and for free after midnight of the same day.

The DFL's CEO Christian Seifert said, "The agreement fuses traditional viewing patterns with innovative, forward-looking possibilities. Factoring-in the additional international revenues, the German professional game will be generating some 700 million euro annually from the central marketing of media rights in the years ahead. With that, the Bundesliga is consolidating its position as one of the world's most profitably marketable leagues. The clubs will have more financial leeway than ever before. And it is to that backdrop that we would additionally like to thank our media partners for their confidence."

I will moderate Früh Kölsch SportTalk from Monday!

On Monday evening I will be moderating my first-ever Sport talk show here in Germany! I have done my reporting, commentary, punditry, etc but this will be a new experience for me. The Früh Kölsch SportTalk from the Bergische Sportarena will be coming from a pub within a sports indoor complex, where we will discuss local sports besides national and international sporting events.

It will be live on the Internet (in German) as a livestream from 19.30 CET (18.30 GMT / 23.00 IST) onwards at www.livestream.com/rs1tv


Here the details in German about the first show:

Am Montag, den 16.April 2012 gibt es die Erste Talkshow auf rs1.tv!

An diesem Abend ab 19.30 Uhr wird der 'Früh Kölsch SportTalk' aus der Bergischen Sportarena in Wermelskirchen als Livestream auf rs1.tv übertragen. Danach geht es alle zwei/drei Wochen 90 Minuten lang vor Live Publikum ( Eintrittskarten auf Anfrage ) um den Sport aus und um Remscheid herum mit Gästen aus dem lokalen Sport, Journalisten und Sportstars. Aber es wird nicht nur über lokales gesprochen sondern auch um nationalen und internationalen Sport.

In der ersten Sendung am 16.April wird der FC Remscheid das Thema sein.

Die Gäste der ersten Sendung sind: Stefan Brandt (FCR Trainer), Mathias Scherz (ex-Fußballer), Andreas Dach (Remscheider General-Anzeiger), Michael In't Zandt (Bergische Morgenpost).


Hier nochmals die wichtigsten Informationen zusammengefasst:


ab dem 16.04.2012

LIVE aus der Bergischen Sportarena in Wermelskirchen
Der Früh Kölsch SportTalk
präsentiert von rs1.tv
Sendungsbeginn: 19.30 Uhr jeweils Montags alle zwei/drei Wochen

Die darauffolgende Sendung findet am 7.Mai statt.

rs1.tv VIDEO: Local City Cup final in Remscheid

Last night was the final of our local City Cup (Kreispokal) in Remscheid with FC Remscheid taking on BV Burscheid. Even here in Germany you can have floodlight problems and the club from the lower division can win the cup.

The Cup system in Germany is divided into three stages - the German Cup (DFB Pokal), Regional/State Cup and the City Cup. The city cup is only played by amateur teams as pro teams do not have the time to play such competitions.

Watch my work for rs1.tv...