MUMBAI: IMG, the global sports, fashion and media company, has entered into an exclusive three-year media rights deal with the Russian Football Premier League (RFPL)until 2015.

IMG will market and distribute the league outside Russia and has already secured contracts with more than 20 broadcasters including NHK in Japan, ESPN in Brazil and Polsat in Poland.

The new agreement will see IMG selling the rights for live and highlights coverage of all 240 League games and also includes internet streaming, mobile phones, DVD and in-flight and in-ship.

IMG is currently in discussions with a number of other broadcasters around the world and anticipates further deals being concluded in the coming months.

IMG Media Senior Vice President Michael Mellor said, "We are delighted to be working alongside the Russian Football Premier League and are working closely with them to both develop the profile of the clubs and players and the reach of the league.

"The increasing investment of the Russian clubs in top world talent has seen the quality of football and competition rise and the league is now rated the seventh best by Uefa. We are sure this will continue and enable IMG to utilise our worldwide international sales team in sixty offices in thirty countries around the world to grow exposure of the RFPL over the next three years."

Founded in 2001, the RFPL, which is run by the 16 clubs in the league, succeeded the Russian Top League which had been run by the Professional Football League of Russia. The current champions are Zenit St Petersburg. The 2012/13 season will be the first run from autumn to spring like most of the other European leagues, the season having previously started in March.

MUMBAI: Soccer clubs will get ?100 million for Euro 2012, gaining from the signing of a renewed MoU between the European Club Association (ECA) and Uefa in March 2012.

Around 580 clubs, representing all 53 Uefa national associations, will benefit from the distribution of payments, adding 400 clubs compared to the 180 that received a share in 2008.

Following a proposal of the ECA board, and after thorough discussion between UEFA and the ECA, the Uefa Executive Committee has approved the mechanism that will be applied to distribute payments to clubs from the revenue of Uefa Euro 2012.

This result has been made possible by the decision to reserve ?40 million for all clubs who released players for Uefa Euro 2012 qualification matches. These clubs will receive an equal share per player released for each qualification game.

The remaining ?60 million will be distributed to clubs who released one or more of their players for the Uefa Euro 2012 final tournament. The global amount will be broken down into a fixed amount per player per day, weighted in accordance with a club categorisation reflecting the different situations in European football. More details of the mechanism will be published at a later stage once the calculations are finalised.

Uefa president Michel Platini said of the agreement, "Thanks to an excellent cooperation between Uefa and the ECA, today?s decision will benefit the whole football family and help shape a good and solid future for football in Europe."

ECA chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said, "The increase from ?55m to ?100m clearly recognises the significant contribution clubs make to the success of the tournament.The new distribution mechanism is the result of the great collaboration between ECA and Uefa. We are pleased with the overall outcome. It will not only benefit around 580 clubs, but football as a whole."

Meanwhile Platin described Euro 2012 as a unique event which has left an important legacy as he looked back on three memorable weeks that, he said, has also emphasised the special nature of national team football.