AFP LAUNCHES SPORT DIRECT IN ENGLISH, A WIRE DEDICATED TO ILLUSTRATED SPORTS BRIEFS

AFP launched in London Tuesday the English version of Sport Direct, a multimedia venture which brings together the Agency's unrivalled sports coverage network and its award-winning international photo service. Until now, it has only been available in French.

AFP launched in London Tuesday the English version of Sport Direct, a multimedia venture which brings together the Agency's unrivalled sports coverage network and its award-winning international photo service. Until now, it has only been available in French.

Sport Direct will operate round the clock to deliver the pick of the day's sporting action in a compact, punchy style of between 120-150 words for each story. These will be illustrated with the latest pictures direct from the events or from the AFP Image Forum, in high definition format.

The core of the product will be a daily file of around 90 general sports stories, and these will be available in separate sports categories of: European and International football, cricket, golf, tennis, motorsports, rugby, formula one, cycling and other sports. These will be ready for use on such as web, mobile and public screens.

The Sport Direct product will feature work by AFP's experienced and tested team of sports writers around the globe working in harness with their photographer colleagues and edited at desks in Paris, London and Hong Kong.

AFP is renowed worldwide for the quality and quantity of its sports coverage, which comprises 25 percent of its overall text production and 35 percent of photo production and the agency has identified sports news as a priority for development in the fast-moving multi-media world.