Fight for play-off rights continues

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• RTÉ Soccer Correspondent Tony O'Donoghue reports on the Ireland v France clash and the continuing fight for the away leg TV rights.

The battle for television rights to the second leg of the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup play-off against France in Paris looks set to go down to the wire.

The FAI’s decision to broker a deal with free-to-air broadcaster M6 rather than national broadcaster TF1 has antagonised the French Football Federation, who has enjoyed a long-standing relationship with the latter. TF1 currently holds the broadcasting rights to France’s home matches and the FFF has been active in assisting the broadcaster to secure rights to away matches.

RTÉ has made competitive offers for the rights to the Paris showdown which are ahead of any other rival broadcaster in the marketplace, but despite commercial and legal efforts no deal has been agreed.

Negotiations will continue over the weekend.