Al Jazeera eyes Orange Sport

International news channel operator Al Jazeera has made preliminary moves to acquire Orange Sport.

The Qatari company has inquired about buying the France Telecom-Orange owned sports network, which owns a raft of valuable sports rights including key French soccer games, according to local press reports.

France Telecom’s Xavier Couture has confirmed the move but has said that the two companies have not met. There are a number of other potential buyers including US cable network ESPN and the French football association and France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard said last year that TF1 and Canal Plus were also potential buyers.