Sport | Football

Technical issues mar broadcast of World Cup opening match in UAE and Arab world

The signal from the South Africa vs Mexico game was lost several times in the first 27 minutes of the match - with the screen left blank for more than five minutes at one point.

Staff Report
Published: 10:11 June 12, 2010

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Dubai: World Cup fans were denied the chance to enjoy the opening game of the tournament, after technical problems that hit broadcaster Al Jazeera Sport left people staring at blank screens for long periods.

The signal from the South Africa vs Mexico game was lost several times in the first half of the match – with the outages stretching up to five minutes at a time.

However, the broadcaster said the disruption was as a result of sabotage. It claimed there were "deliberate attempts to block its signal" but did not elaborate on the cause.

Al Jazeera have bought the exclusive rights to show the World Cup in the region and fans have paid a minimum of Dh295 to get access to the matches.

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Before the technical problems, viewers had already been left bemused by the fact that the English language coverage switched to a French commentary during the game.

Al Jazeera Sport, which has exclusive transmission rights of the event in the Arab world, was deliberately jammed on the Nilesat and Arabsat satellites, said a statement issued late on Friday.

The channel intends to identify and pursue those responsible for this "act of piracy," managing director Nasser Bin Ghanem Al Kholeifi said, while also apologising to the fans.

The reaction to the constant outages was not positive. On Twitter, @Nasserak said: “I'd like to thank Jazeera for ruining my first world cup game! No signal and no customer support. Just brilliant.”

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Another tweeter @sunjayv added: “Aljazeera stinks. Watching live ITV feed online no lag no buffering. English commentary great picture.” while @rizalkhan added: "Al jazeera. You just messed up the experience to millions watching the biggest football show in the planet. Shame on you."

Dubai newspaper Emarat Al Yom ran a headline on Saturday saying "Al Jazeera Sport spoils the World Cup's joy."

In the Saudi capital, Riyadh, football fans unleashed a fury of invective against Al Jazeera after outages caused them to miss much of the first half of the South Africa-Mexico game on Friday.

Comments (23)

Added 19:02 June 12, 2010

It is absolutely pathetic broadcast. Our viewing has been ruined. Missed all the excitement. HD channel not up to any good and the only way to listen to English. We should get our money back!!! Dissapointed South African!!!

Dissapointed South African!!!, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Added 18:21 June 12, 2010

Not fit to cover any sporting event on television. People have spent lots of money to pay for these channels. Please return our money.

Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 18:21 June 12, 2010

Day 2 - same issue. Shame on Al Jaz.... who failed to deliver the services promised. I hope that licenses to any other major sporting events are not granted to them.... Charging existing subscribers bcoz of world cup and failing to deliver..... Please employ qualified staff not jokers Refund please!!!

Anonymous, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Added 18:09 June 12, 2010

Same thing now during the game Argentina-Nigeria!! Doesn't look like we will be able to watch much of the WC this year!!! Get your act together Al Jazeera and sort this out for crying out loud!!! I would happily pay more money to a provider that is able to actually deliver what they promise...

Anonymous, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Added 16:36 June 12, 2010

I don't know if most of you were born after the 2006 World Cup, but just you know Arab Radio and Television or ART (who owned the rights for the MENA region then) charged $426 for the last World Cup. I was one of the many who couldn't afford it. ART won the rights for the 2010 (and 2014) World Cup as well, but Al-Jazeera Sports bought ART later last year for about $1bn. And I am very grateful to Al-Jazeera for charging only a fraction of the price ART charged. I also find it extremely ridiculous that you all would accuse Al-Jazeera of being greedy. This is the same channel that wanted to broadcast the Spanish football league Free-to-Air (FTA) when it first started but couldn't because the other channel(s) in the region (read ART) wouldn't let them. About the signal jamming, there is nothing Al-Jazeera could have done. They broadcast it on 3 satellites; it is the responsibility of the subscriber to have a backup plan. Al-Jazeera also does not require a whole year subscription as an anon user posted, you could buy just the World Cup channels for a month for $80. The one year mandatory subscription is your cable provider's fault. That is not to say, Al-Jazeera doesn't have problems. Their website is primarily in Arabic; how the countless non-Arab expatriates in the middle-east are to find any information, I do not know. Yesterday, they did ask through a ticker on the bottom of the screen to switch to other satellites. But it was in Arabic. Al-Jazeera are also broadcasting the World Cup online but information (in English) about how one could watch it was was hard to come by. The English site kept redirecting to the Arabic site. I later learned that another subscription was required for $60. I do however agree that the World Cup should be shown free of charge. But that is FIFA's problem. They are the ones who charge exorbitant prices for the TV rights -- ART paid $220mn for broadcasting rights for the 2006, 2010 and 2014 editions. You could also blame it on your state broadcasters, for not buying the rights from FIFA, ART last year or now Al-Jazeera, and broadcasting it FTA.

Ali, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Added 16:36 June 12, 2010

Please check al jazeerasport.net....the problem was in both nilesat, and arabsat,,,egyptian can never do such a thing,,,this not egyptians nature,,,and why you talk about egyptian while al jazeera itself didn't accuse anyone,,,,,please be professional

a.k, dubai, Afghanistan

Added 15:15 June 12, 2010

Instead of having the minimum values of courtesy to apologise. They've decided to cover thier flaws and blame the satellite provider. Here's the joke, they did the same thing in the last arab league as well. However they may have had some commom sense at that time when the arab league was aired on most channels and the viewers were having the option of switching between channels to follow on the league and leave the AJS deserted behind. In this case the Egyptian provider knows very well that the world cup is monopolised by AJS and if they intentionally disrupted thier broadcast, not only will the channel get hurt, but all the viewers around the world including the egyptian fans and advertisers.

Anonymous, AUH, United Arab Emirates

Added 14:48 June 12, 2010

I dont understand why people are whining so much; problems happen everywhere, just take it with a smile. Al Jazeera is still the best Arab sports channel, and it was not to blame for the problem As for the cost, it is funny people can spend thousands on cars and accomodation and eating out, but are complaining over a measly 370 Dirhams!

Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 14:34 June 12, 2010

Al Jazeera claims that someone tried to block it's signal??? It's more like they were once again unprepared (just like 2 years ago with the Euros). They are very happy to take our money but come across very amateurish when it comes to organizing something like this event. Pure greed and lack of technical skill more like!!

Anonymous, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Added 13:52 June 12, 2010

It hard time for Al Jazeera channel to be unable for a clear transmision, blaming the others for his incapacity... Good Luke!

Anonymous, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates