Singapore – With only eight weeks until the World Cup 2010 kicks off in South Africa, the stalemate surrounding TV broadcast rights seems to be ongoing. With much of the situation having been played out in the national press, with no official comment from FIFA’s representatives Football Media Services, sources say the stalemate continues. FIFA has dropped its asking price to around $35 million – much lower than the $100 million reported locally. Accusations that FIFA are being greedy are described as “ludicrously ironic,” by one source, “If a market is willing to pay such a high premium for the EPL, obviously FIFA will take that into account regarding their asking price for the World Cup. Across the board markets have paid 3 to 5 times more for the 2010 World Cup than they did for 2006.” Up to two years ago, StarHub and SingTel are alleged to have agreed to join forces on the bid, in order to keep the price down. Talking to Television Asia Plus on condition of anonymity, a source said, “This has nothing to do with MDA’s intervention; around two years ago the two operators discussed a low joint offer for the TV rights.” Singapore remains one of the last territories in the world to agree a rights deal. Meanwhile, industry eyebrows were raised at comments made by Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew. Responding to a question (regarding the fact that football fans in Singapore might not be able to watch the World Cup) Lui reportedly said the youth were less worried because they knew of ways around the problem.