Al-Jazeera to prosecute Egypt state TV for Ghana match broadcast

Qatari-owned Al-Jazeera Sports TV network said it will take legal action against Egyptian state television for broadcasting Tuesday’s Egypt-Ghana match in the first leg of the World Cup playoff, a right exclusive to Al-Jazeera.

Egypt’s state TV broadcast the match on two local channels without prior announcement or approval from Al-Jazeera as tensions continue to rise between the Qatari-owned network and Egypt’s government.

Al-Jazeera announced through its channels that it will prosecute Egyptian television for infringing on its rights. During the match, Al-Jazeera repeatedly broadcast a message declaring that Egyptian TV does not have the right to broadcast the game.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) said on Tuesday it filed a report with Egypt’s prosecutor-general accusing Al-Jazeera of “using Egypt’s state-TV live-broadcast vehicles for 41 days” at the now-dispersed Islamist Rabaa Al-Adawiya protest camp, demanding LE200 million in compensation.

Egyptian authorities and Al-Jazeera have been at loggerheads following accusations against the Qatari network of blatantly unprofessional news coverage in favour of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, his supporters and the Muslim Brotherhood from which he hails.

The authorities recently closed down Al-Jazeera offices and arrested several of its Cairo-based staffers, charging them with license violations. In addition, a Cairo court in September oredered Al-Jazeera Mubasher Misr, the channel’s sector in Egypt, be taken off air. However, the channel continues to broadcast its programs.

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