VietNamNet Bridge – The 2014 World Cup is nearly upon us, but Vietnamese broadcasters are yet to secure a deal to broadcast the event which has been priced at US$10 million by international media company MP & Silva, the event's rights holder.

According to Vietnamese broadcasters, this price is too high and three times more than the rights for the World Cup in 2010.

The question is will fans be able to watch live matches from Brazil in June.

Viettel Group and Viet Nam Television (VTV) are the most likely to buy the package at the moment, but Viettel has already said it can't see any profits in the deal.

"TV rights are a commodity. A television station buys broadcasting rights to resell them and make a profit. We can't see a profit from the World Cup at the current price, so we're not going to but the rights to show it," a Viettel leader was quoted as saying on Viet Nam Post News.

Nguyen Thanh Luong, deputy general director of VTV, confirmed that VTV was not planning to secure the TV rights either.

"VTV does not have the finances to buy such a huge account, so we're ignoring the idea for the time being and concentrating on more attractive propositions.

"VTV has done its utmost to work with the rights supplier, but if they refuse to lower the price we will be forced to step aside."

In another development, the secretary general of the Viet Nam Pay Television Association, Le Dinh Cuong, told Viet Nam Post News that if VTV could not afford the World Cup broadcasting rights, the government would step in to help negotiate a better price.

"We can't accept the present cost of $10 million. MP & Silva bought the rights in a $7 million deal, so we refuse to pay anything more than $8 million," said Cuong.

Cuong added it was unlikely that Vietnamese viewers would be unable to watch the tournament because it was one of the biggest events in the world that only happened every four years.

Source: VNS