Al Jazeera accuses Jordan of jamming 2010 FIFA World Cup broadcast

[News_Editor]

Al Jazeera accuses Jordan of jamming 2010 FIFA World Cup broadcast

2010-10-02 08:28:33 GMT+7 (ICT)

AMMAN, JORDAN (BNO NEWS) – Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based TV network which primarily serves the Middle East, claimed on Thursday that its live broadcasts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup were jammed from a location inside of Jordan, something the country staunchly denies.

Al Jazeera said that it resulted in millions of viewers throughout the Middle East and North Africa to experience frequent disruptions of the broadcast. The global network said that it based its accusation on the findings of “teams of independent international technology experts†who investigated the interruptions.

A Jordanian government source “categorically denied†the accusation and said that the claim was “absolutely baseless and unacceptableâ€, according to a report by Jordan’s state-run Petra News Agency. The Jordanian government source said that 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.â€

There has been a regional competition between Qatar and Jordan, and discrediting Al Jazeera is a good way to take away a major resource of the Qatari government. Jordan first took action against the television network in 1998, when the network accused the Jordanian government of conspiring with Israel against the Palestinian territories. Jordan reacted by shutting down Al Jazeera’s bureau in Amman as well as recalling the Jordanian ambassador in Qatar.

Similar arguments have occurred with Jordan accusing Al Jazeera of excessive criticism of Jordan’s King Abdullah and his government.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup took place in June and July in South Africa, and was critically hailed as one of the best World Cup events to date.

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