TalkSport to broadcast live Euro 2012 coverage

TalkSport has been announced as the UK commercial radio broadcaster of the Euro 2012 tournament, airing live coverage of all 31 games including the England ties.

The BBC has the rights to provide "extensive coverage" of Euro 2012 on Radio 5 Live as part of its joint broadcasting deal with ITV for the football tournament this summer.

Euro 2012 begins on June 8 in Warsaw and runs until the final in Kiev on July 1. England's group campaign gets underway on June 11 against France, while the Republic of Ireland start their tournament on June 10 against Croatia.

Following its coverage of the World Cup in 2010 and the Rugby World Cup last year, the UTV Media-owned TalkSport will offer live commentary from every game at Euro 2012 on AM, digital radio and online.

The station's coverage team will include former footballer Stan Collymore, along with Richard Keys and Andy Gray, the two presenters who left Sky Sports last year after a sexism scandal.

"Major international sport tournaments are a huge draw for our listeners, as we've found with the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and the Rugby World Cup," said TalkSport programme director Moz Dee.

"With a team that includes Stan Collymore, Andy Gray and Richard Keys I believe we have some of the best sports broadcasters in the business and we're the perfect place for listeners to follow all of the action next summer. I'm delighted to be bringing every game of Euro 2012 live to fans."

In June 2000, the BBC was granted a court order preventing TalkSport from describing its coverage of Euro 2000 as "live" because the station did not hold live broadcast rights to the championship.