They said they are deprived of enjoying watching Emirati clubs

Audience: We were shocked that the "Asian Champions" matches were not broadcast, and we demand that the Confederacy open them for free

• The first round of the AFC Champions League is nearing its end and there is no solution to the problem of the lack of television coverage.

  Photography: Osama Abu Ghanem

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The fans of the AFC demanded the opening of the free broadcast of the AFC Champions League matches for fans to watch the AFC Champions League competition, which is nearing the conclusion of the group stage.

And they said that they were subjected to a great shock with the start of the tournament by the absence of channels carrying the event, unlike what was happening in previous years.

They said that they faced many problems in following Emirati clubs due to the lack of television coverage, especially after most television channels refrained from buying the rights to broadcast the tournament, and the decision to divide the rights for each region separately, and to buy them only on terrestrial broadcasts deprived a large number of fans from following the tournament. As it happens for fans of local clubs.

Three clubs from the UAE are participating in the current tournament, Sharjah, Shabab Al-Ahly and Al-Wehda. Sharjah and Al-Wahda have come close to qualifying for the next round, while Al-Ahly's youth are struggling to do so.

In an interview with Emirates Today, fans and heads of fans' associations were surprised by the fact that the continental federation made such a big mistake that the TV coverage of its competitions disappeared.

They said that in light of the measures related to the pandemic, many people are forced to watch matches at home, but in the current season, they are suffering because of the search for different methods and ways to watch some matches through links on the Internet, accompanied by a lot of interruption.

The spokesman for the AFC, Nidal Bahran, said in a previous interview with "Emirates Today" that the federation decided to divide broadcast rights in the west of the continent into four regions, namely: Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Iran, and the rest of the regions, and that he had not received any official offers regarding the transmission of matches. Except for Saudi Arabia, which currently broadcasts the matches via YouTube and an online platform.

On the other hand, some channels complained that the continental union is exaggerating the price, which amounts to 15 million dollars.

Hariz Al-Minhali, head of the Baniyas Club fans council, said that he faced, like others, great problems and difficulties in following the Asian champions' matches because they were not broadcast on television.

Hariz Al-Minhali added, "The International Football Association and the AFC always say that they are biased towards the fans, but we were surprised as fans not to broadcast an important tournament like the AFC Champions League, which has a great following from the fans in the yellow continent."

Hariz Al-Minhali added, "I am surprised how a large continent such as Asia could cause its continental federation to deprive a large segment of the audience from following an important tournament, so we ask him to open matches for free for the public so that he can enjoy the rest of the rounds."

And he stressed that "denying the public to watch this championship is a totally unacceptable and unjustified issue, especially in light of the current health conditions that the whole world is going through and requires everyone to stay in their homes in order to ensure their safety and the safety of society."

"I have suffered a lot with the issue of getting the matches broadcast, because I keep looking for links through which it is possible to follow the event, to no avail," he said.

For his part, Al-Wehda fan, Adel Abdullah confirmed: I was excited to follow the tournament on TV channels, but it was a big surprise when I discovered the absence of coverage for the event.

He added: I hope that the public will be able to watch the tournament matches for free, without any fan requiring electronic links.

In turn, Al-Ain fan Abdullah Al-Shamsi stressed that although his team Al Ain was not present in the Asian Championship during the current season, as an Emirati fan, he is interested in the interest of Emirati football, so he was keen to follow the participation of the Emirati clubs, but he received a great shock due to the absence of television coverage.

He added: As an audience, we do not know what happened in the matter of broadcasting matches, but we read about that the Confederacy had requested a large sum in exchange for allowing the channels to broadcast the championship matches.

Al Shamsi pointed out that «there are many things that shocked them in this new version, especially that the whole world is going through the Corona pandemic, which deprived the public of being in the stands and watching the matches, and we wished as an audience that the matches would be broadcast, and that this event would be accompanied by analysis studios.

"I have had to follow some tournament matches via electronic links, but it is often accompanied by constant defects and interruptions, which makes us lose the pleasure of watching and enjoying the matches," he said.

• 3 clubs from the UAE are participating in the AFC Champions League this season, which are Sharjah, Al-Wahda and Shabab Al-Ahly.

• The AFC was criticized for the exaggeration in the price of broadcasting rights after dividing them according to geographical regions.

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