FIFA is opening the invitation to tender for European media rights as of Monday, 20 December 2004 onwards. The public tender comprises the media rights for TV and radio transmissions of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The mobile broadcast rights will be tendered at a later stage, with the timelines yet to be defined.

The invitation to tender is open to all interested parties, including broadcasters, broadcasting unions, sports rights agencies and media companies.

The media rights packages have been structured to provide balanced opportunities for up to three rights holders within each territory in order to ensure both flexibility and options for the increasing number of competing broadcasters and media platforms.

The tender procedure, which will be overseen by FIFA's Marketing & TV Division, is a reflection of FIFA's policy of transparency, compliance with applicable competition law principles and its wish to give all interested parties the opportunity to bid for the media rights to an event of the global stature of the FIFA World Cup. In 2002, a cumulative audience of 28.8 billion people watched the FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan. For the next event in 2006, 30 billion people are expected to tune in over the four weeks of the biggest single sports event on earth.

The deadline for the submission of bids is 1700h CET, 11 February 2005. Upon review of the submissions, FIFA will then draw up a confidential shortlist of bidders and expects to announce the appointments in May/June 2005.

Those parties interested in making a bid may obtain a copy of the Invitation to Tender document on the FIFA web site.

The Asian and Oceania tenders of the selected media rights of FIFA World Cup 2010 have been postponed to a later date.

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