Jordan denies it was behind Jazeera W.Cup jamming

Posted Thursday, September 30, 2010 by

AMMAN (AFP) - Jordan's government on Thursday denied that it was behind the jamming of Al-Jazeera satellite television's broadcast of this year's World Cup football finals in South Africa.

"The Jordanian government categorically denies allegations made by unnamed sources to the Guardian newspaper that it was behind the jamming of Al-Jazeera broadcast of the World Cup," a government official told AFP.

"These allegations are absolutely baseless and unacceptable," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"The government is ready to cooperate with any team of independent experts to examine the facts, and is certain that any such examination will prove these allegations false."

Britain's Guardian daily said Thursday the jamming was "traced to Jordan, which appears to have retaliated angrily after the collapse of a deal that would have allowed football fans there free access to the matches."

"Secret documents seen exclusively by the Guardian trace five episodes of jamming definitively to a location near Salt in Jordan, northeast of the capital Amman, confirmed by technical teams using geolocation technology," it said.

The official rejected "speculations" about a deal with Al-Jazeera.

"Four days before the kick off of the matches, Al-Jazeera made an offer, demanding eight million dollars for the broadcast rights of 20 games of its choosing, and over 50,000 dollars for the broadcast on each screen that would have been placed in underprivileged areas," he said.

"The government did not accept the offer because it believed it was made too late and the matches offered by Al-Jazeera did not justify the cost."

Al-Jazeera had exclusive pay-TV rights to broadcast World Cup matches across the Middle East from North Africa to Iran and charged up to 150 dollars for one-month subscription packages or cards to see the games.

The jamming has infuriated million of fans who had payed in advance for coverage of the tournament only to receive blank screens, pixelated images or commentary in the wrong languages.

Al-Jazeera has revolutionised the Arabic-language media and reporting on the Middle East since its foundation in 1996 but at the expense of offending many Arab governments, including that of Jordan.