Singapore pay-TV platform Singtel TV is to air live UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League football after reaching an agreement with regional rights holder beIN Sports.
The news comes a day after rival telco StarHub successfully concluded long discussions with beIN to broadcast Champions League and Europa League football for the remainder of the season.
Champions League and Europa League matches will be available to view through Singtel TV’s World Sports +, Action Trio, Variety and Value packs.
The matches will also be shown live on beIN Sports HD on StarHub TV Channel 213, with simultaneous matches screened on Hub Sports channels.
Coverage of the prestigious European club tournaments will now join Premier League, FA Cup, EFL, Dutch Eredivisie and Chinese Super League football on Singtel TV.
“We are pleased to bring our customers the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League,” said Goh Seow Eng, managing director, home, consumer Singapore at Singtel. “We thank our customers for their patience as we engaged the rights owner for many months. Our efforts have paid off with both top UEFA competitions secured. Together with the Premier League and FA Cup, our customers will experience the drama and suspense of some of the world’s most popular tournaments in their living rooms.”
Mike Kerr, managing director of Asia at beIN Asia Pacific, said: “[UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League] are the only annual football tournaments where all greatest European clubs meet and megastars of football such as Ronaldo, Messi, Neymar and Salah gather to battle for supremacy. We look forward to working alongside Singtel to deliver the best football experience and would like to thank fans for their continued support.”
Singtel said it would air a number of live Champions League fixtures this week, including Hoffenheim v Manchester City, and Manchester United v Valencia, followed by Napoli v Liverpool and Tottenham v Barcelona on 4 October.
StarHub also said it was “grateful” for “customers’ understanding”, thanking them for their patience while rights were agreed to air both European club competitions.
“We remain committed to ensuring that our content offering provides customers with a wide range of sporting events,” said Johan Buse, chief of StarHub’s consumer business group.