The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), who are responsible for the organisation and progression of football in the continent of Asia, have today announced a new collaboration with a key partner to help bring their broadcasting to the next level.

Starting with this month’s 2011 AFC Asian Cup (held in Qatar), broadcasted coverage for official AFC tournaments and competitions will have their in-match statistics covered by STATS (Sports Team Analysis and Tracking Systems), featuring their SportVU ‘player tracking technology’. The deal was overseen and announced by World Sport Group (WSG), who are the official marketing and media partner of the AFC

The President of the AFC, Mohamed Bin Hammam (from Qatar) expressed his delight with the deal, that he claims will enhance the coverage of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup around the world, and helping to bring it to a similar level to the international tournaments in Europe and South America.

He said of the move: “I am thrilled with this partnership as it will allow more TV viewers and website visitors in Asia and worldwide to experience a rich content beyond the standard TV and web coverage. I would like to commend Samsung for being foresighted and able to appreciate the value of our product and also the platform that AFC can provide for sponsors looking for extra exposure beyond the standard methods.”

James Clarke, Senior VP of World Sport Group, added: “We are genuinely excited by the opportunity to add STATS’ rich data to the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 and give the event the depth of statistical insight it deserves. The AFC Asian Cup is the region’s premier event and we are delighted that with the support of Samsung, we will be able to provide fans with a level of data and interactivity that is the equal of any other world-class event.”

The EVP of STATS (who also cover a wide range of sports and leagues in detail (including major American sports leagues such as NFL, MLB, and NHL), providing both real-time and historical data), Steve Byrd, said that it was also a good deal for the 30-year-old statistics company, commenting: “STATS is very excited to be working with World Sport Group and the Asian Football Confederation once again. Last year, we introduced SportVU during the AFC Champions League final with great success. We look forward to uncovering unique player and team attributes with SportVU player tracking throughout the entire AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 tournament.”

STATS is now the official AFC Data Partner, and will be implementing their SportVU system to give detailed and appropriate statistics throughout matches during coverage on TV and online. SportVU is described as a sophisticated player tracking technology that collects X and Y positioning of the ball and participants within the playing area in real-time, providing a wide selection of statistics such as efforts on goal, passes completed, player run comparisions and team heat maps used to show the most effective areas of the pitch, amongst other features. Such stats will be seen on occasion during broadcasts of matches.

A further part of the agreement with the AFC is that STATS will power the official 2011 AFC Asian Cup online match centre and matchcast (and mobile application), providing the same data to online users to view as they please. Could STATS represent the way forward for more areas of sports analysis?

Latest TV searches:

asia cup, asian cup logo png, Asian Cup png, asian football confederation, asia cup 2012, asia cup football online tv internet, afc asian cup, Asian cup update, asian cup internet tv, afc asian cup LOGO

Related News:

1. Football chiefs declare war on football streams website
2. England Football Game Streamed Online Only
3. Online Only Pay Per View Football Match a Success
4. World Cup Football Streaming A Record Number Of Matches Online