BBC Three Slates Women’s European Football Championship

LONDON: BBC Three has added the July 2013 Women’s European Football Championship to its programming lineup.

The network will broadcast a number of live matches and highlights throughout the tournament, which will take place in Sweden from July 10 to July 28. A preview show is set to air on BBC Two and BBC Two HD on July 8. When the championship starts, 16 games will be broadcast live on the BBC, with 14 on BBC Three and two on BBC Two and BBC Two HD, including the final on July 28. BBC Three’s Women’s Euros programming will begin at 7 p.m. with highlights of previous games leading up to the 7:30 p.m. kickoff.

The England games will also air live on BBC Radio 5 live or 5 live Sports Extra. In addition, the BBC Sport website is going to feature live text commentaries for every England match, as well as news, reports and on-demand video highlights. Also, each televised game will be streamed live via the BBC Sport website, mobile, IPTV and the smartphone app.

Barbara Slater, BBC’s director of sport, commented: "We are delighted to provide cross-platform coverage of this summer’s European Championship as well as women’s football in general as the sport continues to grow in popularity. With the tournament being broadcast on BBC Three we want to build on the momentum of London 2012 by making women’s football available to new audiences.

"The Women’s Euros joins an impressive BBC Sport football portfolio that includes the Premier League on Match of the Day and 5 live, the Football League, this summer’s Confederations Cup and next year’s World Cup."

BBC Three controller Zai Bennett added: "I’m really proud to have the Women’s Euros on BBC Three, continuing our commitment to women’s football which proved such a hit on the channel during the Olympics last year."