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The new Saturday sports programme on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Afrique, Samedi Foot, is to bring live commentary of England's Premier League matches to fans across Francophone Africa, thanks to an agreement between ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service and the Premier League.

The three-year agreement, which will be in force until May 2014, means that audiences of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Afrique will now hear full live commentary of selected Premier League matches in French. From Saturday 11 September, the new weekly programme, Samedi Foot, at 13.45-16.00 GMT will give football fans the opportunity to follow full games, including previews, half-time and full-time analysis.

Samedi Foot is produced and presented by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Afrique's Emmanuel Coste, who also hosts the popular weekend sports programme, Sport Week-end.

Emmanuel says: "The English Premier League football is exceptionally popular in countries to which we broadcast, especially Ivory Coast, Togo and DR Congo. Some of these countries are also homelands of iconic players such as Emmanuel Adebayor, El Hadji Diouf, Didier Drogba and Alex Song. I am sure that football fans in Central and West Africa will share our excitement as ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Afrique brings to them the class and drama of the English Premier League football with full live commentary in French on Samedi Foot."

Paul Molnar, Head of International Broadcasting and Media Operations, Premier League, says: "Africa has provided many great players for the Premier League, and we are pleased to extend the accessibility of the league through the local language radio services of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service broadcasting to this region."

Premier League games coverage on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Afrique also includes special reports on the Friday 16.00 GMT news bulletins and previews of the Premier League weekend matches on Saturday editions of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Midi at 12.00 GMT.

Premier League matches commentary rights are also secured for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's broadcasts in Hausa, Portuguese and Somali. The agreement also extends the existing commentary rights of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Swahili service which has been broadcasting live Saturday afternoon football commentaries since 2004.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ World Service's multilingual commentary of the Premier League will be available in the following African countries: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros Islands, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, St Helena, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Notes to Editors

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Afrique broadcasts about eight hours a day. Its three main news and current affairs programmes, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Matin (06.00-07.30 GMT), ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Midi (12.00-12.30GMT) and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Soir (18.00-18.30GMT), focus on news in French-speaking Africa and across the continent and the world. Millions across Francophone Africa tune in to its programmes on FM, shortwave and online, via the website, bbcafrique.com.

The programmes are produced in the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's studios in London and in the bureaux in Abidjan, Bujumbura, Dakar, Kigali and Kinshasa. In addition to its daily programmes, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Afrique takes a look at news and current affairs in its weekly feature programmes: L'Interview, Africana, Britannia, L'Autre Actualité, Sport Week-end and Afrique Hebdo. Interactivity makes up a big part of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Afrique output as audiences are invited to share their views by SMS messages sent to particular programmes and via the Forum pages on bbcafrique.com.

On the weekly programmes, Le Club ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and Star Club, listeners can exchange views, find friends or dedicate songs to friends and family. The monthly programme, L'Afrique en Direct, encourages listeners to take part in debates with specially invited guests.

World Service Publicity