MUMBAI: Chennai will continue to remain the home of India and South Asia?s only ATP tour event until 2016 as the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) has extended agreement by three-year?s with IMG Reliance, operators and organisers of the Chennai Open, and IMG, owners of the tournament.

The prestigious tournament will be conducted with the active collaboration of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) and the Government of Tamil Nadu. The 2013 event was the 18th edition of the tournament in India and 17th edition in Chennai.

IMG Reliance COO Ashu Jindal said, "The Chennai Open is part of Chennai?s culture and we are extremely happy that TNTA and IMG Reliance have been able to keep this iconic tournament in the Mecca of tennis in India. With the extension of this contract, we will continue to utilize the Chennai Open as a platform to develop India?s tennis talent. The Chennai Open has played an important role in growing the sport of tennis in Tamil Nadu and also provides a family-friendly entertainment experience for fans in Chennai. I would like to express my gratitude to all sponsors and partners for their invaluable support of this year?s tournament."

TNTA President M.A. Alagappan said, "We are delighted to announce that Tamil Nadu Tennis Association with the active support and patronage of the Tamil Nadu Government has come to an agreement with IMG Reliance to continue the tournament from 2014 to 2016. As the only ATP world tour event in South Asia, the Chennai Open provides a key opportunity for Indian players to compete with the best players in the world. We look forward to three more years of quality tennis in Chennai."

MUMBAI: Neo Sports has said it will be the exclusive broadcast partner for the Nehru Cup football tournament. It is learnt that the broadcaster has paid between Rs 5-10 million for acquiring the rights as it grapples with the challenge to feed its channels with live content.

The broadcaster, which had recently rebranded its cricket dedicated channel as an all sports channel Neo Prime, had televised the Uefa Euro 2012 football tournament and is betting big on football which has been on upswing in the recent past.

The biennial international invitational tournament, which has been organised by the AIFF since 1982, will kick off on 22 August and run till 2 September.

The event was telecast on Ten Sports last time around in 2010.

Defending Champions and two-time winners India will be gunning for a hat-trick of titles and will be up against Maldives, Syria, Nepal and African powerhouses Cameroon in a 10 match round robin league followed by the final between the top 2 teams.

All 11 matches will be broadcast live in prime time, with one match daily kicking off at 7 pm.

Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasana Krishnan said, ?Neo Sports has added yet another key event to our extensive football line up with Nehru Cup. TV ratings for football in India are growing exponentially, evident with the success of Uefa Euro 2012 on Neo Prime. With Nehru Cup being India?s only international football tournament, it is sure to garner high viewership. We look forward to serving Indian football fans with top class coverage of this celebrated event?

IMG Reliance COO Ashu Jindal said, ?With 2012 being the Platinum Jubilee of the AIFF (All India Football Federation) and India returning as defending champions, we are extremely pleased to partner with Neo Sports for the broadcast of this historic edition of the Nehru Cup. This is a key tournament in our vision to radically restructure and popularize football in India. With double the prize money and an extensive production plan, the event will be bigger and grander."