By Paul Hayes

SYDNEY, NSW: As the race to be Australia’s first television channel to broadcast a live sporting event in 3D appears to have been won by Fox Sports, SBS has confirmed that it will be broadcasting matches from next month’s 2010 FIFA World Cup in 3D.

SBS will be teaming with Sony and Harvey Norman to broadcast the matches on a new dedicated 3D channel, which will be in addition to its planned coverage on SBS ONE, SBS TWO, The World Game and SBS Radio.

Along with this morning’s announcement that Fox Sports will broadcast the Socceroos’ 24 May warm up match against New Zealand in 3D, the World Cup news will no doubt be welcomed by Samsung and LG as the only companies with 3D TVs on the market.

As a 3D partner with SBS and FIFA sponsor Sony, Harvey Norman is also set to benefit with more people expected to upgrade to new, 3D-enabled, TVs before the World Cup kicks off in early June.

“SBS is proud to be working with our FIFA World Cup 2010 partner Sony and our valued and long-standing client Harvey Norman to make this happen for Australian football fans,” said SBS managing director, Shaun Brown.

Viewers with 3D-ready TVs will have plenty of opportunities to see the games. In addition to being broadcast live on its dedicated channel, SBS will also play the games on an extended loop which will run until the next 3D broadcast is available.