Ten Sports has bagged exclusive rights to telecast the UEFA [Images] Champions League in the Indian subcontinent for the next three seasons.

Telecast of the matches will start in September and include 1,000 hours of Europe's leading football action, the channel said in a statement.

ESPN-Star Sports had been broadcasting the world's premier club football competition till last season.

Since 1955, the greatest clubs in Europe have competed for the most famous trophy in club football, the European Cup. After the competition was re-launched in 1992-3 as the UEFA Champions League, the tournament has grown even bigger. It is guaranteed to feature the top sides from all of Europe's premier leagues and the greatest football stars in the world.

Defending champions Barcelona face a tough challenge from 31 other teams, including the best sides from England [Images], Italy [Images], Spain and Germany [Images]. European football in general is also coming off an incredible high, given its dominance in the recently concluded FIFA World Cup.

UEFA Ceo Lars-Christer Olsson said, "We are delighted to welcome Ten Sports as a new broadcast partner for the UEFA Champions League as from next season. This agreement will undoubtedly benefit football fans throughout the entire Indian sub-continent. We look forward to working with Ten Sports to build up the UEFA Champions League in this important region."

Elaborating on the impressive line-up of sporting events that Ten sports owns, CEO Chris McDonald said, "This is a great step forward for us and further improves an amazing year for Ten Sports with India's cricket tours of the West Indies [Images], Sri Lanka [Images] and Pakistan, the men's and women's hockey world cups, Grand Slam tennis from France [Images] and New York and the world's top golf events. We have now added the best club football in the world to our sporting line-up."

There will also be daily special programmes for the Champions League, bringing goals and action for every game played. Added vice-president (Programming) Peter Hutton, "We will have our own live studio shows around each day of Champions League football, bringing goals and action from every game played that day, further enhancing the viewing experience for a tournament that is growing in stature every year and is by far the most competitive club football in the world."