World Cup 2014 TV coverage guide: Everything you need to know...

Ian Darke will be ESPN's lead game-caller throughout the World Cup this year.

Michael Regan/Getty Images

There has been no bigger ally for soccer fans in the United States than ESPN president John Skipper. The television executive is a huge fan of the sport -- he adopted Tottenham Hotspur as his club team while doing business in England for ESPN -- and took his two sons to the 1994, 2006 and 2010 World Cups. Skipper has made growing world soccer a company-wide priority at ESPN and the network deserves all the plaudits it has received for its world soccer coverage, just as it deserves demerits for its Baylessian tendencies on manufacturing cross-platform debate.

ESPN's coverage of this year's World Cup (June 12-July 13) looks extraordinary on face. Upon the conclusion of the tournament, the network will cede coverage to Fox Sports, which takes over the World Cup in 2018 and 2022. "I think you will see the most comprehensive and broadest coverage of a soccer event anywhere in the history of the sport," Skipper said. "Our goal is to leave with a very high bar and I think we will do that."

Below, we offer a World Cup television guide to help you navigate through the month-long fun:

Where I can watch the matches?

All 64 matches of the World Cup will be broadcast live and in high definition on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 in English, and on Univision broadcast and cable networks in Spanish. The breakdown: ESPN will air 43 matches; ESPN2 will air 11 and ABC will air 10 matches including the World Cup final on July 13 from Rio de Janeiro's Estádio do Maracanã. All 64 matches on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ABC will also be available on computers, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles and connected devices live on WatchESPN. Philly.com's Jonathan Tannenwald has a great guide of all the broadcasters doing every game including radio coverage and Canadian broadcasters.

Who will be calling the matches?

The incomparable Ian Darke will be ESPN's lead game-caller for the tournament. He'll call the opening game of the World Cup (Brazil-Croatia on June 12) and the final on July 13. He's also be the voice of all U.S. national team games and will do England's games in the group stage. Darke is also assigned to Spain and Chile in the opening round. (His schedule for the knockout round and beyond will be determined while in Brazil.) Jon Champion, Adrian Healey, Daniel Mann, Fernando Palomo and Derek Rae are the other gamecallers and information on them can be found here.

What about the studio programming?

ESPN's headquarters are located at Rio de Janeiro's Clube dos Marimbás, a popular private sailing club on the southern tip of Copacabana Beach. How good will the pictures be from Brazil? ESPN senior vice president and executive producer Jed Drake called it the best remote studio in ESPN's history. The network plans to broadcast pre-match, halftime and post-match shows, with the pregame shows running 30 minutes each. The network says they will show the teams walking onto the pitch as well as the national anthems and ceremonial handshakes. There will also be a 90-minute post-match show called 'World Cup Tonight' on match days airing on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNEWS with analysis from an ensemble of ESPN on-air staffers. "This will be a t-shirt, don't shave, drop your bag and start talking show," Drake said. "For a soccer fan, it will be where you want to have a seat at the table."

ESPN has a ton of game and studio analysts. Who are they?

About a dozen ESPN analysts will rotate between games and the studio. Taylor Twellman will serve as Darke's partner on all U.S. games. Steve McManaman, who has partnered with Darke for years in England, will share the mic with Darke for the Brazil-Croatia opener and all of England's games. The other analysts include Michael Ballack (Germany), Efan Ekoku (Nigeria), Kasey Keller (US), Alexi Lalas (U.S.), Roberto Martinez (Spain), Alejandro Moreno (Venezuela), Gilberto Silva (Brazil), Santiago Solari (Argentina) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (Holland), who management is very high on. "We had been targeting Ruud for some time and he can be a breakout star for us," said Amy Rosenfeld, the network's senior coordinating producer for the World Cup.

We'd love to know announcer pairings for the rest of the group stage. Do you have them?

Alas, no. For some strange reason, ESPN's soccer management isn't releasing it -- an inexplicable move so close to the tournament's start.

How many people watched the World Cup four years ago?

The 2010 World Cup was the most-viewed World Cup ever on English-language TV in the United States. ESPN networks averaged 3.261 million over 64 matches, up 41 percent from 2006. Spain's extra time win over the Netherlands drew 15,545,000 viewers for the final. Only the 1999 Women's World Cup Final (U.S.-China) averaged more viewers for a soccer game (17,975,000) in the U.S. ABC's coverage of the Uruguay-Germany third place match drew 5,045,000 viewers.

Will this year's ratings top 2010?

Count on it. The time difference for Rio is one hour ahead of the Eastern Time Zone, which makes this a great television event. "We hope the U.S. does well but this event is not going to go off the rails if they lose in the group stage or knockout round," Skipper said. "We had spectacular results with Spain and the Netherlands in the final last time. We don't sit around with clinched fist saying 'Oh, my Gosh, if the US does not win, we have a problem.'"

One of the reasons ESPN's World Cup coverage has worked so well is because the hosts are not doing shtick. Will that be the case again?

Yes. Bob Ley and Mike Tirico return as World Cup hosts. The third host is newcomer and UK-presenter Lynsey Hipgrave of BT Sport, who replaces Chris Fowler (assigned to Wimbledon). I interviewed Hipgrave in April about the assignment.

What network will show the U.S. National team games?

All the group stage games for the U.S. will air on ESPN. The U.S. opens against Ghana on June 16, at 6:00 p.m. ET from the Estádio das Dunas in Natal. The team's second game (vs. Portugal) comes on June 22 at 6:00 p.m. ET in Manaus. The U.S.' final game of the group stage is against Germany at Arena Pernambuco in Recife on June 26 (noon ET). Darke and Twellman will call all the U.S. games together for as long as the team is in the tournament.

How serious is ESPN about covering the stories away from the pitch, from the $3.6 billion in taxpayer money that has been poured into still unfinished stadiums to in-country protests to the latest corruption charges against FIFA?

Skipper pledged that ESPN would not avoid any stories of interest related to the World Cup. The network will use the resources of ESPN Brazil and added ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff for its coverage. The other reporters assigned to the tournament are Julie Foudy, Jeremy Schaap (assigned to U.S. team until it is out), John Sutcliffe (assigned to Mexico) and ESPN Brazil's Rubens Pozzi. "We owe viewers to tell those stories and not clinch up because we are concerned about what the rights holder will think," Skipper said. "We don't believe in the notion that this this is the game and don't let the stories (outside) interfere with it. We have staffers like [ESPN.com writer] Wright Thompson, Bob Wooldruff, Bob Ley, Jeremy Schaap and if things happen or don't happen, we will be covering and I think we will cover them proactively. We won't need a protest to happen to talk about some of the issues going on in the country. We have never told anyone to not bring up stuff up during the game or the scene around it."

Give us your five must-see games of the group stage not involving the U.S. team.

Spain-Netherlands, June 13, ESPN, 2:30 p.m. ET

England-Italy, June 14, ABC, 5:30 p.m.

Germany-Portugal, June 16, ESPN, 11:30 a.m.

Brazil-Mexico, June 17, ESPN, 2:30 p.m.

Uruguay-England, June 19, ESPN 2:30 p.m.

Dude, you are no Grant Wahl, but do you have a prediction for the U.S. team?

I do, and I'm hoping it does not come true: I think the U.S will come home with zero points from the group stage. (The prediction would be the same had Landon Donovan made the team.)

What about radio coverage of the tournament?

ESPN Radio will broadcast all 64 games of the tournament and all matches will be streamed online on ESPNradio.com. These games will also be featured on Sirius XM Channel 84 and 85. ESPN's lead radio team is J.P. Dellacamera, who has called the last seven World Cups on various platforms, and analyst Tommy Smyth. Mark Donaldson and Ross Dyer will also handle play by play on radio.

I'm on Twitter. Any list of people to follow during the World Cup?

Yep. Here's my still-growing list of must-follows.

What about Fox Sports, which will take over the World Cup in 2018?

Fox Sports has nine executives traveling to Brazil to watch how ESPN puts on a World Cup. "We were blown away by the offer and hospitality from John [Skipper] and the ESPN guys," said Fox Sports president Eric Shanks, who is part of Fox's traveling party. "The ESPN setup is one we can learn a lot from."

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20140601/media-circus-world-cup-espn-soccer-fox-sports-1/#ixzz33TJBUPh3

Fixed Soccer Matches Cast Shadow Over World Cup

A New York Times investigation of match fixing ahead of the last World Cup gives an unusually detailed look at the ease with which professional gamblers can fix matches.

By DECLAN HILL and JERÉ LONGMANMAY 31, 2014

JOHANNESBURG — A soccer referee named Ibrahim Chaibou walked into a bank in a small South African city carrying a bag filled with as much as $100,000 in $100 bills, according to another referee traveling with him. The deposit was so large that a bank employee gave Mr. Chaibou a gift of commemorative coins bearing the likeness of Nelson Mandela.

Later that night in May 2010, Mr. Chaibou refereed an exhibition match between South Africa and Guatemala in preparation for the World Cup, the world’s most popular sporting event. Even to the casual fan, his calls were suspicious — he called two penalties for hand 

balls even though the ball went nowhere near the players’ hands.

Mr. Chaibou, a native of Niger, had been chosen to work the match by a company based in Singapore that was a front for a notorious match-rigging syndicate, according to an internal, confidential report by FIFA, soccer’s world governing body.

FIFA’s investigative report and related documents, which were obtained by The New York Times and have not been publicly released, raise serious questions about the vulnerability of the World Cup to match fixing. The tournament opens June 12 in Brazil.

The report found that the match-rigging syndicate and its referees infiltrated the upper reaches of global soccer in order to fix exhibition matches and exploit them for betting purposes. It provides extensive details of the clever and brazen ways that fixers apparently manipulated “at least five matches and possibly more” in South Africa ahead of the last World Cup. As many as 15 matches were targets, including a game between the United States and Australia, according to interviews and emails printed in the FIFA report.

Although corruption has vexed soccer for years, the South Africa case gives an unusually detailed look at the ease with which professional gamblers can fix matches, as well as the governing body’s severe problems in policing itself and its member federations. The report, at 44 pages, includes an account of Mr. Chaibou’s trip to the bank, as well as many other scenes describing how matches were apparently rigged.

After one match, the syndicate even made a death threat against the official who tried to stop the fix, investigators found.

“Were the listed matches fixed?” the report said. “On the balance of probabilities, yes!”

The Times investigated the South African match-fixing scandal by interviewing dozens of soccer officials, referees, gamblers, investigators and experts in South Africa, Malaysia, England, Finland and Singapore. The Times also reviewed hundreds of pages of interview transcripts, emails, referee rosters and other confidential FIFA documents.

FIFA, which is expected to collect about $4 billion in revenue for this four-year World Cup cycle for broadcast fees, sponsorship deals and ticket sales, has relative autonomy at its headquarters in Zurich. But The Times found problems that could now shadow this month’s World Cup.

A letter from Football 4U International to the South African soccer federation offered to provide referees for South Africa’s exhibition matches before the World Cup.

■ FIFA’s investigators concluded that the fixers had probably been aided by South African soccer officials, yet FIFA did not officially accuse anyone of match fixing or bar anyone from the sport as a result of those disputed matches.

■ A FIFA spokeswoman said Friday that the investigation into South Africa was continuing, but no one interviewed for this article spoke of being contacted recently by FIFA officials. Critics have questioned FIFA’s determination and capability to curb match fixing.

■ Many national soccer federations with teams competing in Brazil are just as vulnerable to match-fixing as South Africa’s was: They are financially shaky, in administrative disarray and politically divided.

Ralf Mutschke, who has since become FIFA’s head of security, said in a May 21 interview with FIFA.com that “match fixing is an evil to all sports,” and he acknowledged that the World Cup was vulnerable.

“The fixers are trying to look for football matches which are generating a huge betting volume, and obviously, international football tournaments such as the World Cup are generating these kinds of huge volumes,” Mr. Mutschke said. “Therefore, the World Cup in general has a certain risk.”

Mr. Chaibou, the referee at the center of the South African case, said in a phone interview that he had never fixed a match, and he denied knowing or having ever spoken to Wilson Raj Perumal, a notorious gambler who calls himself the world’s most prolific match fixer and whom FIFA called one of the suspected masterminds of the South Africa scheme.

“I did not know this man,” Mr. Chaibou said. “I had no contact with him ever.”

Mr. Chaibou said FIFA had not contacted him since his retirement in 2011. He declined to answer any questions about money he may have received in South Africa.

The tainted South African matches were not the only suspect ones. Europol, the European Union’s police intelligence agency, said last year that there were 680 suspicious matches played globally from 2008 to 2011, including World Cup qualifying matches and games in some of Europe’s most prestigious leagues and tournaments.

“There are no checks and balances and no oversight,” Terry Steans, a former FIFA investigator who wrote the report on South Africa, said of the syndicate’s efforts there in 2010. “It’s so efficient and so under the radar.”

An exhibition match between Guatemala and host South Africa in May 2010 at Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane was “manipulated for betting fraud purposes,” a 44-page FIFA report found.CreditAssociated Press

Referees for Sale

As players from South Africa and Guatemala gathered for their national anthems, Mr. Chaibou stood between the teams at midfield. He was flanked by two assistant referees who had also been selected by Football 4U International, the Singapore-based company that was the front for the match-rigging syndicate.

They were present because of a shrewd maneuver the fixers had begun weeks earlier to penetrate the highest levels of the South African soccer federation.

A man identifying himself as Mohammad entered the federation offices in Johannesburg carrying a letter dated April 29, 2010. The letter offered to provide referees for South Africa’s exhibition matches before the World Cup and pay for their travel expenses, lodging, meals and match fees, taking the burden off the financially troubled federation. “We are extremely keen to work closely with your good office,” the letter read.

It was signed by Mr. Perumal, the match fixer, who was also an executive with Football 4U.

Penalty kicks in an exhibition match between Guatemala and host South Africa in May 2010 awarded by the referee Ibrahim Chaibou aided South Africa’s 5-0 victory. According to FIFA’s report, Mr. Chaibou received as much as $100,000 to fix the match. Mr. Chaibou said he had never fixed a match.CreditGianluigi Guercia/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

READ MORE AT: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/sports/soccer/fixed-matches-cast-shadow-over-world-cup.html?rref=sports/soccer&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=Soccer&action=click&region=FixedRight&pgtype=article

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