The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) thanked the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) for its efforts to allow Arab fans, especially Egyptians, to follow the World Cup, according to a statement on Saturday.
A disagreement had erupted between Egypt’s Competition Authority (ECA) and FIFA recently over the tournament’s broadcasting rights. The ECA said that FIFA is the sole organisation able to grant broadcasting rights for the World Cup, which was a violation of Egyptian freedom of competition laws.
The broadcasting rights in the Middle East for the World Cup, which began in Russia on Thursday, was sold to the Qatari beIN Sports channel. However, the ECA said that most Egyptians can not afford beIN’s subscription fees.
The ECA threatened that it will “oblige” FIFA to allow it to broadcast 22 matches of the 2018 World Cup.
Meanwhile, the EFA affirmed that it has nothing to do with the recent crisis of the World Cup broadcasting rights, asserting that FIFA only owns the broadcasting rights of the tournament. Moreover, the EFA stressed that they are always committed to the international laws and regulations governing this issue.
