TV row leaves fans in the dark

A DISPUTE over TV rights left Israeli soccer fans frantically trying to glean information on Saturday’s World Cup qualifier with France in Paris as they were barred from watching their national team earn a goalless draw.

None of the Israeli TV channels were willing to pay the $250,000 for the clash between the Group Four favourites and Israel.

Only a small number of people with satellite dishes not connected to the officially sanctioned cable and satellite channels managed to circumvent the blackout by watching a French channel that was switched off in Israel during the match.

The channel, TV5, is normally available to Israeli subscribers but the cable and satellite operators deliberately blacked it out for the duration of the match to avoid a legal dispute with the rights owners.

Until Saturday, Israeli broadcasters had often played a game of brinkmanship, only agreeing to pay the TV rights owners a few hours before kickoff after knocking down the price.