ESPN take some strange options in Euro 2000 coverage

There is very little live action this week as CABLE's main two attractions - Premier League and Serie A - take a break for the European Championship qualifiers.

ESPN/STAR weigh in with several of those Euro 2000 matches, but only one live.

CABLE Sports, who will show the Euro 2000 finals tournament live and exclusive in the SAR next year, were beaten to the punch in the bidding for most of this week's games. But they do have one live match - England v Luxembourg.

A win should be a formality for Kevin Keegan's side. But the manner of the win will be scrutinised by pundits. It's not that goal difference will matter in the long run because goals scored against the last team in the group (which Luxembourg will certainly be) don't count as tie-breakers. But a quality England display will be demanded after the draws with Sweden and Bulgaria.

STAR are showing the US Open tennis as a priority on Wednesday, which is why they have no live Euro game. But surely their ESPN partners could have come up with a better one than Moldova v Turkey. The Turks have done well to lead a group that also includes Germany but this game should be almost as big a formality as England against Luxembourg. Moldova are bottom of Group Three on three points compared to the Turks' 12.

The other big question is why have ESPN opted to show no live games tomorrow? Perhaps it's because they missed out on the England one to CABLE. But there are plenty of others to choose from, because ESPN are showing them on tape delay. Of course, the rights to taped and same-day delay games are cheaper than those of live matches, probably a deciding factor.