Poor Syrians Missing Out in World Cup

www.magda.de
Worldcup fans in South Africa - many Syrians cannot even afford to watch at home on television. Photo: Christian Frey

SMN No. 4, June 24, 2010

Several Syrian bloggers have criticised the monopoly of one Arab satellite TV station over the broadcast of World Cup matches, saying that Syrians living in dire economic conditions cannot afford the subscription fees.

Millions of Syrians have been watching televised World Cup matches at home, in cafes, restaurants and show support for favoured teams by draping their national flags on cars and balconies.

But many are complaining about the prohibitive cost of watching the games at home.

The Qatari-based Al-Jazeera Sports channel retains the exclusive right to broadcast the matches in the Arab region and charges viewers subscription fees of around 200 US dollars for the Worldcup 2010.

One blogger, Saydat Al-Zorka, wrote on May 29 that the average Syrian salary was barely enough to support someone for a few days. Another commented that the poor were not following the football because they were too busy with the “marathon of running after [their] daily bread.”

Another blogger lamented on June 17 that Syrians with limited incomes could watch the games for free only in Turkish or Hebrew on the national channels of Turkey or Israel.

But many here own Arab Satellite dish receivers so can’t view Turkish channels, which are considered by conservative Syrian society to broadcast “indecent” programmes.