source: mb.com.ph
The Myanmar government will decide Monday whether or not to allow ABS-CBN to telecast the live matches of the Philippine Azkals in the group stage of the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup in Rangoon.
Office hours resume Monday following a government declared holiday Saturday.
Myanmar’s ministry of information had earlier denied the request of ABS-CBN to bring in cameras to broadcast the games and will only allow foreign broadcast groups to tap into the government-owned MRTV telecast, but this has not been approved.
“They will have to wait until Monday to get the answer because it is the Feast of the Full Moon in Tabaung in Myanmar today (Saturday). It’s a public holiday,” said the source, who requested not to be named.
“As of the end of office hours Friday in Yangon, however, MRTV, the Myanmar government’s television arm and official coveror of the football matches, has not yet secured the required permit to beam the game live via satellite. The next update from MRTV is expected Monday morning,” read an ABS-CBN statement sent to media offices later in the day.
The Azkals take on hosts Myanmar on Monday, Palestine on Wednesday and Bangladesh on Friday.
Even if ABS-CBN gets the green light from Myanmar to tap on its government station on Monday, it may find it difficult to air the Azkals’ 5 p.m. match (Manila time) against Myanmar due to lack of time to set up its equipment.
But the same source said: “As far as preparation is concerned, ABS-CBN is ready.”
The Philippine Football Federation and ABS-CBN said in their joint statement that “If a live satellite feed would not be possible, they shall exhaust all means to secure a tape of the coverage and play it back at the earliest possible time.”
The military-ruled Myanmar has firm control of media. Filipino journalists wishing to cover the event were denied entry. The visa applications of two other journalists from GMA-7 were also denied. Laptops and cellular phones are also prohibited.
If ever ABS-CBN, which will broadcast the games on Studio 23, gets the approval from Myanmar to tap into MRTV, it may not still be able to air the games live on March 23 and 25 because the schedule of the football matches conflict with timeslots of the PBA games which are scheduled every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday set around the same time. ABS-CBN has proposed to air those playdates via Balls, a cable channel.
“It is only fair to everyone concerned that the PBA airs on free TV (Studio 23) as scheduled,” said Diana Sayson, an ABS-CBN producer.
The Azkals left for Myanmar Saturday armed with growing confidence they can pull off convincing victories despite missing injured star striker Phil Younghusband (hamstring) and midfielder Jason de Jong.
The Azkals need to win at least two of their three matches to gain one of the two berths at stake in main draw next year.
source: mb.com.ph
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