Al Jazeera to Launch First Mideast Sports News Channel

posted on: Sep 1, 2009

Emirates Business said the new 24-hour channel will air exclusive sports news as well as talk shows and news from major sporting events.

“The new Arabic-language channel aims to enlighten viewers about what is happening in the world of sports and provide them with comprehensive coverage of the most important international events,” Mohammed Ammor, director of the news department, told the paper.

by Elsa BaxterThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it on Tuesday, 25 August 2009
NEW CHANNEL: Al Jazeera Sports is set to launch soon. (Getty Images)
NEW CHANNEL: Al Jazeera Sports is set to launch soon. (Getty Images)

Al Jazeera Sports is set to launch the first Arabic-language sports news channel in the Middle East, it has been reported.

Emirates Business said the new 24-hour channel will air exclusive sports news as well as talk shows and news from major sporting events.

“The new Arabic-language channel aims to enlighten viewers about what is happening in the world of sports and provide them with comprehensive coverage of the most important international events,” Mohammed Ammor, director of the news department, told the paper.

“The channel will be a source of sports news rather than just news. We are already the source of many exclusive news stories, but there will be many more exclusives once the new channel is launched.”

The broadcaster has exclusive rights to major sporting events like the UEFA Champions League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and National Basketball Association matches.

“Al Jazeera had been planning to carry out this project for a long time but it takes time to implement it,” Ammor told the paper. “There was a feasibility study as well as engineering study carried out – it is not at all easy to launch a TV channel.

“The tournaments, of which we have exclusive rights, will be given priority in the bulletins but other tournaments will not be neglected and will have their share of coverage too.

“We will deal with events in a professional and objective way. We have agreements with British channels who will provide us with interviews, reports and news,” he said.

Arabian Business