MX23RW : Tuesday, June 11 05:08:57| >> :600:118396657:118396657:

Richard Masters: 'Premier League taking steps to return football to Chinese television'

Richard Masters: 'Premier League taking steps to return football to Chinese television'
© Reuters
Premier League 'taking steps' to return top-flight action to Chinese television

The Premier League is "taking steps" to get its teams back on Chinese television, the organisation's chief executive Richard Masters has said.

The league terminated its existing contract in the country with rights holder PPTV, owned by Suning, last week after the withholding of a payment due under the terms of the deal in March.

The three-year deal with PPTV was announced last summer, and was reported to have been worth more than half a billion pounds.

Masters said he hoped it would not be long before Chinese fans of the Premier League would be able to watch the action again.

"The decision to terminate our agreement with Suning was a very difficult one and they had been a very good partner to us," he said.

"We had some difficulties that we couldn't resolve and we had to make the decision to move on. We know there are millions of fans in China who want to watch the Premier League so we are taking steps to resolve that situation.

"We need to make the right decision rather than the quickest decision, so we are getting on to that.

"Clearly it creates some financial issues but we are confident that we made the right commercial decision and the right strategic decision for the Premier League."

Masters also said it was unlikely that the pre-season Asia Trophy would be taking place next summer.

"Having been centrally involved in organising previous Asia Trophies, it is an enormous undertaking and to make it happen, it requires an enormous amount of forward planning which we just haven't been able to get done," he said.

"We have been to China twice and Hong Kong on a number of occasions and had really positive experiences and I really hope we would be welcomed if we are ready to go back with whatever pre-season format we have in the future."

ID:413671: cacheID:413671:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2616:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho checks his watch on December 5, 2018
Read Next:
Report: Mourinho in talks with Chinese club
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CManchester CityMan City38287396346291
2Arsenal38285591296289
3Liverpool382410486414582
4Aston Villa382081076611568
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs382061274611366
6Chelsea381891177631463
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle381861485622360
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd38186145758-160
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham381410146074-1452
10Crystal Palace381310155758-149
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton381212145562-748
12Bournemouth38139165467-1348
13Fulham38138175561-647
14Wolverhampton WanderersWolves38137185065-1546
15Everton38139164051-1140
16Brentford38109195665-939
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3899204967-1832
RLuton TownLuton3868245285-3326
RBurnley3859244178-3724
RSheffield UnitedSheff Utd38372835104-6916


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!