ITV Sport has announces its plans for covering the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil with a stellar on-screen line-up packed with some of football’s biggest names ready to kick-off its coverage on June 12.
The broadcaster will bring viewers a carnival of football with all the action, drama, colour and atmosphere from across Brazil, featuring 34 live games, with all but the final itself being shown exclusively live.
Joining presenters Adrian Chiles and Matt Smith on the plane to Brazil to lend their experience and expertise to ITV’s tournament coverage will be an all-star cast including former World Cup winners Patrick Vieira and Fabio Cannavaro, Sunderland manager and former Uruguay international Gus Poyet, and Andros Townsend, star of England’s World Cup qualifying run, whose bid to play at the tournament was sadly ended through injury.
They will all be joined by regular ITV pundits Roy Keane and Lee Dixon, as well as Scotland manager Gordon Strachan and former England international Ian Wright, former England manager Glenn Hoddle and current Republic of Ireland manager Martin O’Neill.
Senior ITV Sport reporter Gabriel Clarke, presenter Matt Smith, commentators Clive Tyldesley and Sam Matterface as well as co-commentators Andy Townsend and Clarke Carlisle will also be on the ground and in the stadia in Brazil throughout the tournament.
ITV will have a studio base in Rio de Janeiro to bring home to viewers the impact of the tournament from one of Brazil’s iconic cities, but the team will criss cross the vast expanse of the country to deliver build-up, live coverage and analysis of some games from in and around the stadia in the various tournament locations to give viewers a taste of the rich diversity of the country.
The tournament begins on ITV with coverage of the opening ceremony at the newly-built Arena de Sao Paulo before the action kicks off with favourites Brazil taking on Croatia in the first match.
A number of mouth-watering fixtures from the opening stages will be featured live on ITV, with the hosts appearing again in their final group game against Cameroon, as well as two of England’s group games against Uruguay and Costa Rica exclusively live.
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ITV will also screen the much fancied Germany side taking on Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, a chance to see Ronaldo’s rival for the mantle of world’s best player Lionel Messi as Argentina take on Iran, and two Belgium matches, the side who are many experts’ dark horses for the tournament.
Twenty matches from the group stages will be shown live on ITV, plus five more on ITV4, with 34 games in total being broadcast live on ITV during Brazil 2014.
Fans will be able to watch ITV’s live World Cup coverage at any time with all live matches streamed online via itv.com and available on demand via ITV Player.
Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport, said: “Excitement is building as we draw closer to what promises to be a special World Cup, taking place in this most iconic of football countries, defined by its passion for the game.
“Our pundit team bring a rich variety of perspectives on football to our coverage and they can’t wait for kick-off on June 12 and to bring you the best of the action and the atmosphere throughout the tournament.”
ITV’s World Cup site – itv.com/worldcup – will bring Brazil to life on all devices, particularly for mobile and tablet users.
This content will include highlights packages of all 64 matches, in-match video clips, all the latest news, extra analysis from ITV’s must-watch pundits and live statistics.
In addition, comedian Alan Davies will host an ITV World Cup podcast throughout the tournament, available for free on iTunes and ITV.com.
Davies’ podcast co-presenters will be Dom and Tom from award-winning Bradford City podcast Bantams Banter.
ITV’s online World Cup coverage is fully geared up to help fans engage with Brazil 2014 on social media via Twitter and Facebook, where fans will be able to share our content with one simple click, rate the best goals and upload their own celebrations.
As well as comprehensive TV coverage, ITV will also bring a slice of Brazil to the north-west of England this summer with a special World Cup Fan Park in Manchester where fans and families can watch the tournament on a giant screen.
Based at the old Granada Studios site, the Brazilian-themed park will give fans the opportunity to immerse themselves in the emotional roller coaster of the biggest football event in the world and free tickets can be applied for online from Saturday, May 17, via itv.com/feverpitch.
ITV Sport will be sharing live TV coverage of the 2014 World Cup with the BBC, who confirmed their plans last week.
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UPDATE: Roy Keane has withdrawn from ITV’s team of World Cup pundits to focus on his coaching ambitions.
An ITV spokesperson said: “Roy has been a tremendous part of our pundit team in recent years, but we fully understand his decision to concentrate wholly on his coaching. We wish him every success for the future.”
The former Manchester United captain has been well received as a pundit for the broadcaster since making his debut at the 2011 Champions League final, with his forthright opinions becoming a key part of its coverage of FA Cup and European games over the past few seasons.
It is understood that ITV have left the door open for Keane to return to a punditry role with the channel in the future.
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