Abu Dhabi TV, an Abu Dhabi Media Company, has won the rights to broadcast the English Premier League for a period of three year starting from 2010.

The Abu Dhabi TV and EPL deal is "exclusive," eliminating Showtime Arabia, which had held the exclusive rights since the 2007-08.

Azhar Malek, Vice President, Marketing and Public Relations, at Showtime said: "We broadcast the Spanish and Italian leagues, and now the Barclays English Premiership League will complement these two competitions making us the leading pay television operator in the region."

According to Edward Borgerding, the Chief Executive of ADMC, the deal was crucial for Abu Dhabi and the media company, as it goes into a partnership covering the world's most exciting football league.

Although it is not known how much ADMC had paid for the deal, but there are rumors of a more than $120 million payment.

Borgerding said: "We look forward to many years of co-operation with the Premier League to develop the brand of the Arab world and to maximise their exposure to Arab- speaking families in the Middle East and North African region. This supports our strategy of delivering the best of the world's entertainment, sports and news to the Arab- speaking world."

Abu Dhabi already has close links to the English Premier League through Abu Dhabi United Group for Investment which is run by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family who had last year purchased Manchester City.

Abu Dhabi wants a strong hold in media, as last year ADMC launched the National English language daily newspaper, and inducted very large number of staff, and now this deal.

The newspaper has 270 journalists, which include 40 foreign correspondents.