Toufik Khelladi:”I have taken the decision to broadcast the match on my own and I am proud of what I've done”

General Manager of the Algerian Television, Toufik Khelladi, revealed in this interview with Echorouk, that he is the person who took the decision of broadcasting the match of Burkina Faso vs Algeria, in spite of not having the rights of broadcasting from Al Jazeera Sport, which is the owner of the rights of the television broadcast, adding that he is proud of what he had done, referring to the Qatari channel which “politicized” the issue after it asked the Algerian television to open an office in Algiers.

Echorouk: What is your comment on the accusations of Al Jazeera Sport’s officials about stealing pictures of the match between Burkina Faso and Algeria?

“I do not care about what they say; “…As an Algerian I am very proud of what we have done, as it is the right of the Algerian fans to follow the match of their team live in the Algerian channel..Legally it is the duty of the company that owns the broadcast rights to sell the rights to broadcast the match for countries which teams are party in the confrontation, because we reject Al Jazeera Sport’s blackmailing which put unacceptable conditions, which was totally immoral and contrary to the laws”.

Confederation of African Football issued a statement which confirmed that the countries that are part of any confrontation, have the right to terrestrial broadcasting while it only play within their rules?

I will explain to you exactly how things are going, for example, when the Algerian National team plays in the stadium, the company that owns the rights of broadcasting, to grant terrestrial broadcast of the Algerian Television for free, in exchange for the signal, but while the national team is playing outside the stadium.

I talked about bargains and blackmail, can we know its kind and how negotiations were conducted between the Algerian Television and Al Jazeera Sports, which owns the rights of broadcasting?

“Al Jazeera Sports asked us to the let them open an office of the channel in Algeria against giving us the right to broadcast the match of Burkina Faso vs. Algeria, and we told them that we are a media institution and we do not have the right to grant licensing and open offices of foreign channels in Algeria , assuring them that if they wanted to open an office in Algeria, they should discuss this proposal only for the Algerian government, which is authorized to grant licenses in accordance with the procedures and applicable laws.