Ammon News - DUBAI—A host of technical glitches is threatening an embarrassing own goal for Al Jazeera, the satellite-TV channel that won exclusive rights to broadcast the World Cup in much of the Arab world.

Soccer fans across the Middle East and North Africa have paid as much as $150 for one-month World Cup subscription packages or special cards that allow their receivers to tap into the soccer tournament. Many more are gathering across the region in cafes, restaurants, bars and purpose-built venues, all tuned into Al Jazeera.

But the station's first week of broadcasts has been stymied by blank screens for some matches, pixilated images in others and broadcasts of some play-by-play commentary in the wrong languages.

The station, based in Doha, Qatar, alleges sabotage, though it hasn't said by whom.

Mideast viewers had to contend with no picture or sound for most of Friday's opening match between South Africa and Mexico. The same problems affected the Argentina-Nigeria and England-U.S. matches over the weekend. Coverage improved for a couple of days, but fans watching the Spain-Switzerland match on Wednesday evening complained of poor picture quality and occasional black-outs.

Al Jazeera said broadcasts carried by Egypt's Nilesat satellite operator and Arabsat, of Saudi Arabia, were deliberately jammed. The station hasn't accused anyone of the jamming yet but suggested political interference.

Al Jazeera Sport Managing Director Nasser Al-Khulaifi said in a statement earlier this week that he was astonished that the signal was blocked because the World Cup is "not a political program, but a sporting event."

Egypt and Saudi Arabia have both at times been at odds with Qatar, a tiny, natural-gas-rich state that has recently played an outsized diplomatic role in the region, competing with long-time regional heavyweights Cairo and Riyadh.

Ahmed Anis, chairman of Nilesat, told Egypt's state-run news agency on Wednesday that it would take "all necessary measures" to find out who sabotaged the service during the World Cup. A spokesperson for Arabsat wasn't available for comment Thursday.

Al Jazeera says it will broadcast some matches free. It has said it's still investigating the alleged jamming. Representatives at Al Jazeera weren't available for fresh comment Thursday.

World Cup organizer FIFA, meanwhile, says it is "appalled" by any attempts to block transmission and is helping the broadcaster find the cause of the interference. But some fans remain disgruntled.

"Whether it's intentional or not, that's not my problem. Al Jazeera needs to sort it out," said 47-year-old Jordanian Abraham Khalaf, a Brazilian fan who has been trying to watch the tournament from his home in Dubai. "I missed every Brazilian goal during the Brazil-North Korea game. The disruption only seems to happen during the most important games."

*The Wall Street Journal