fbpx

With your support we continue to ensure media accuracy

Al-Jazeera Gets Red Card from ITV

ITV and Al-Jazeera are teaming up to broadcast UEFA Champions League matches this year, and Maccabi Haifa's success is already stoking tensions between the broadcasters. The Daily Mail explains how the bad sports at Al-Jazeera…

Reading time: 2 minutes

Maccabi_haifa

ITV and Al-Jazeera are teaming up to broadcast UEFA Champions League matches this year, and Maccabi Haifa's success is already stoking tensions between the broadcasters.

The Daily Mail explains how the bad sports at Al-Jazeera sought to downplay Israeli success:

The Arab station, who have BBC's Gary Lineker presenting their widespread coverage of the competition on a new sports channel and ITV Sport doing the programme production, laid down editorial guidelines about the prominence given to Israeli team Maccabi Haifa during the qualifying stages.

This led to ITV's high command confronting their Arab bosses with allegations that the time allocated to Maccabi Haifa had been decided on racial grounds, which were not acceptable.

In turn, Al Jazeera were furious employees should even question their motives on such a powder-keg issue and told ITV it was none of their business to interfere.

The controversy nearly escalated into the termination of the ITV production deal, but has now been resolved.

The team's most recent Champion League match was a 3-0 victory over Salzburg. But in the battle of the broadcasters, it's ITV 1, Al-Jazeera 0.

Red Alert
Send us your tips
By clicking the submit button, I grant permission for changes to and editing of the text, links or other information I have provided. I recognize that I have no copyright claims related to the information I have provided.
Skip to content