FIFA awards World Cup media rights to Russia's 2SPORT2, Italy's Mediaset

ZURICH (Reuters) - World soccer body FIFA on Friday said it had awarded media rights for the 2018 World Cup to 2SPORT2 in Russia and Mediaset in Italy. "In Russia, rights have been granted to the 2SPORT2 consortium (representing Channel One, RTR and Match TV), which will ensure comprehensive coverage of the competition in the host country," FIFA said in a statement. "In Italy, Mediaset has secured live rights to all 64 matches to be aired on its free-to-air channels. The rights sales process in Italy was conducted by the MP & Silva agency on behalf of FIFA." The rights were platform-neutral, the global soccer body said, granting the media groups rights for TV, internet, mobile and radio coverage. (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; Editing by Michael Shields)