Setanta Sports have announced that they will broadcast Ireland’s forthcoming friendly internationals against England in Wembley and Spain at Yankee Stadium, New York, live.
The games, two of the most prestigious friendlies the Irish team has played in years, take place on Wednesday May 29th and Tuesday June 11th respectively with the latter kicking off at 1.0 am on the 12th Irish time.
ITV will also broadcast the Wembley game but Setanta expects to have the New York match to itself in Ireland and the company’s marketing director, Brian Quinn, said yesterday that in addition to live coverage, it would be repeated at a time that would be more accessible to mainstream supporters.
“We’ve shown Republic of Ireland games in the past, but we are particularly pleased to have secured the rights to these two,” he said. “Both games are fascinating for different reasons.
“England against Ireland at Wembley will evoke a lot of memories for some but it’s also a great chance to see how Ireland compete against the stars of the Premier League. Ireland against Spain at Yankee Stadium will have a different feel to it but again is another chance for Ireland to test themselves against the best on the world.”
Giovanni Trapattoni is currently scheduled to name his squad for these games, the qualifier against the Faroe Islands on June 7th and friendly with Georgia on June 2nd on Monday week.
