Dentsu, Infront Sports & Media Launch Joint Venture to Distribute World Cup Broadcast Rights in Asia.

Tokyo, Japan, Oct 17, 2006 - (JCN) - Dentsu has announced the official launch of Football Media Services Pte. Ltd. (FMS), its joint venture with Infront Sports & Media AG, which was established to handle the distribution of Asian broadcast rights to all FIFA events between 2007 and 2014, including the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.

Headquartered in Singapore, FMS will handle the marketing of all television, radio, broadband Internet and mobile broadcasting rights to FIFA events. The Company is staffed by a team drawn from Dentsu and Infront and headed by Michael Francombe, formerly an executive director with Infront in Switzerland.

Philippe Blatter, President & CEO of Infront, commented: "We are excited about our partnership with Dentsu. Our joint know-how provides a strong foundation to meet the expectations for successful distribution of the Asian broadcast rights. The results of FMS's early initial negotiations in some of the major territories in Asia are already showing great promise."

Tomoharu Tsuruda, an executive officer of Dentsu, said: "We have known and worked with the Infront team over many years, both as partners and friendly rivals. We have much respect for their abilities and believe that this joint venture will deliver the best possible results for FIFA."

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