There’s been a lot of buzz these past days in the Arab blogosphere about the World Cup matches and the exclusive rights agreement that ART has with FIFA to air the World Cup in the Middle East.
This deal means that the only way for Arabs to get to watch the World Cup is to subscribe to ART, something which isn’t within the reach of everyone, or if they have a dish installed, hope that some satellite channel will be airing the matches, which is not such a sure bet.
Local, terrestrial, TV stations in Arab countries will only get a 20 minute ‘Match Highlights’ package, that they can only air one to two hours after the match.
A lot of people have lashed out against ART and its founder Sheikh Saleh Kamel because of this, blaming him for this and pouring out their hate on him.
What’s worse is that the ART holds the rights to airing the World Cup up to 2014.
I too think that this is very bad and unacceptable, but I think that the blame and hate shouldn’t be thrown on ART and its founder. After all, the guy is just a business man who ceased an opportunity he found available, just like anyone else would. Believe me, if it wasn’t ART, it would have been someone else.
The real blame should be thrown on the over greedy, money thirsty FIFA!
It’s not enough they’ll be raking in millions and millions in sponsorship deals, ticket sales and what not; No they also have to sell airing rights to the matches for millions of dollars, bringing about all the negative effects we’re witnessing now.
Of course, a business man paying all that money for airing rights will want to see some return on his investment, and the only way he can do that is by reselling some of the rights and selling subscriptions.
But this is the World Cup we’re talking about, the most important and biggest sporting event in existence. It belongs to the World, not to FIFA!
What is FIFA but an organization created to oversee the worldwide game, centralize its rules and promote it.
When did it become a greedy business running after every penny in our pockets?
This is complete nonsense and totally unacceptable.
Give us back our football!
Down with FIFA!
Maybe you are right that FIFA is to blame here, but I also think that Arab governments are blamed too. I mean why/how can’t 22 countries collect enough money to buy the rights? King Abdullah has just donated RS 45m (US$ 12m) to the national football team. If every Arab country paid some money (depending on their wealth and population) they could have easily bought the rights.
It’s really outrageous.. isn’t this supposed to be the “poors” favorite game?! now they even took that from them!
Ahmad << I can see ur point of view.. I was wondering abt those 12m$ too..
(sorry for using “sweet” as a nickname earlier)
Ahmed, I see what you mean, and it’s true Arab governments together could have bought the rights instead of ART, but is that logical?
What about other countries in the world that can’t afford to buy these rights?
The World Cup should be for the whole world to see. If the FIFA want money, they can make that through sponsorship deals and whatever else, but airing the matches should be near to free worldwide.
Ccee, the World Cup, is the one sporting event in the world that everyone watches, rich and poor, men and women, old and young. It’s a passion.
It’s wrong and immoral to take it away from the people.
And no worries about the nickname 🙂
Good news for us, women! :p
Khadija, is it good news for women?
I don’t think it’s the case for all women.
I know a lot of women, my mom and wife included, who hate watching national league football matches, but who love watching World Cup matches.
It’s an event that takes place once every 4 years with the best football performances and tactics.
I believ it’s a must see even for women.
mais le pauvre sepp blater a besoin d’argent sinon il ne pourra pas faire de bonnes vacances
ps:il y a des chaines europeennes qui vont passer les matchs voir http://goalzz.com/main.aspx?c=143