The two broadcasters have agreed a rights deal with the Football Association to screen the association's key competitions including the FA Cup, England teams, the Community Shield and the FA Women's Cup.

The agreement will commence in 2004/5 and conclude at the end of the 2007/8 season.

The new deal covers the planned opening period for the new national stadium at Wembley.

Announcing the new arrangements, new FA chief executive Mark Palios, said: "We are delighted to be renewing our partnerships with both BBC and BSkyB.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NEW DEAL All England home senior internationals exclusively live on BBC, highlights and delayed broadcast on Sky Three FA Cup matches per round from rounds three to six live on BBC, one per round live on Sky First-choice FA Cup semi-final live on BBC, other semi-final live on Sky Both broadcasters to screen FA Cup final live

"Both broadcasters have given us fantastic support in the past two years and we are looking forward to cementing our excellent relationships for a further period.

"The deal is an important step in the process of providing financial stability to The FA. It also enables much greater access to top quality football for an even larger number of people."

The BBC's director of sport, Peter Salmon, added: "The new partnership with the FA will enable the BBC to give terrestrial audiences unprecedented access to the England team during their passage to the World Cup in 2006.

"Our production teams and talent have also worked hard over the last two years to bring back the magic of the FA Cup and we look forward to building on our successes over the next four years."