Football fans across the Arab world were furious when they tried to watch the opening game of the World Cup and found the signal was blocked.
Al Jazeera Sport, the network with exclusive broadcasting rights for the tournament in the Middle East and North Africa, has said its signal was deliberately jammed on satellite channels Nilesat and Arabsat in an "act of piracy".
Viewers were faced with blank or frozen screens when they tried to watch the opening game between Mexico and South Africa on Friday.
Al Jazeera's signal returned in the second half of the match, but the quality was patchy.
Some commentary for the game also appeared in the wrong language.
"We apologise for the interruption that happened, it was because of satellite interference from an unknown source," Nasser al-Kholeifi, the managing director of Al Jazeera Sport, said.
Al-Kholeifi said he was astonished that the World Cup signal was blocked because it was "not a political programme, but a sporting event.
"We will do whatever we can to find whoever was responsible".
Viewers upset
But some viewers are still upset with Al Jazeera Sport.
"What happened is shameful, the World Cup only happens every four years," one football fan in Gaza said.
"We were in a coffee shop and we tried to find another place and they had the same problem."
Another viewer in Gaza said: "We have lost our patience for this mistake. We are waiting to watch the only Arab team, Algeria."
Nilesat, the Egyptian satellite company, has said it is investigating the source of the jamming.
The company pledged to "take all measures necessary against such an irresponsible act that violates all international laws and norms".
Al Jazeera is promising to pursue legal action over the incident.
"After months of negotiations with Fifa, we want out Arab viewers to enjoy a few of the World Cup events for free," al-Kholeifi said.
"But sadly, there are some people who have political agendas to the contrary. We will do our utmost to find who was behind it."
Just as some Americans watch Football on Spanish channels, some watch on Arabic channels. I am sure the big ones in America wanted to stop this viewing on Al Jazeera
Mr Nalin Nydas, what the heck are you saying? Al Jazeera sports is the holder of TV rights for WC 2010 in the arab world, they sold Tv rights to national TV to be broadcasted locally no sat, of course they get paid a lot of money. Al jazeera decided that will air some game on their free wide open channels, so Nilesat an Egyptian company went ahead and did whatever it could to stop al jazeera sport from broadcasting.
Stinko Dinko: This is the peice of information I am/was going by when I commented. Al Jazeera Sport, the network with exclusive broadcasting rights for the tournament in the Middle East and North Africa, has said its signal was deliberately jammed on satellite channels Nilesat and Arabsat in an "act of piracy".
From Plymouth's post it seems that this did not happen. I also read and I am sure you also read The company pledged to "take all measures necessary against such an irresponsible act that violates all international laws and norms". So as far as I am concerned the jury is still out - the company is investigating - that is what I am saying. nothing more. If you have more information than you should call and tell the company.
what does this have to do with satellite forum.wtf normally any other thread would have been deleted by plymouth.i have notice only desi threads are allowed here
Stinking dinko: The fact as I see it is that you watched and benefited from my posts for three years and did not have to ask questions fo3 years except for a few posts. And if you now think it was "all bs ...... on a daily basis" , then why did you read it "on a daily basis" ? Take a hike.
plymouth is great article. if someone des not like it go somewhere eles. i was watching the opening in north africa and this is the storie
aljazzera sport became the most powerful broadcast now in europ too. besides midle east and north africa. they have more power than any other broadcaster. they had a special card for only world cup that you buy only from them otherwise no one can watch the broadcast of world cup. they gave algeria free games becuz they are representing north africa. but the rest of the contries has to pay almost 15 million dolars to have right to broadcast.in their countries. poeple in egypt get pissed and dont wanna pay that much . so they hack nilesat and blow aljazeera signal. but if you are aiming to arab7 or hotbird you can watch . the problem is solved complain and invistigation still pending .
what was amazing is that i saw something very unique . they have a receiver that they use with combination of 2 dishes. one conected to the receiver and the other dish is reflecting a signal from an other sat that feed the receiver with code that open the channels/. that's how they explain me . they too advanced in the fta world .