Egyptian prime minister Ahmed Nazif refused to allocate $ nine million for the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) to broadcast the African Cup of Nations on terrestrial television. The ERTU said earlier this week that they had reached an agreement with Al-Jazeera Sports, who owns the exclusive rights of airing the tournament's games in the Middle East, to broadcast 10 matches. The ERTU was due to pay $one million while the ministry of information was supposed to pay the remaining nine. However, Nazif eventually opted against proceeding with the deal, an ERTU source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told FilGoal.com. The ERTU has never been unable to broadcast Egypt's Nations Cup games on terrestrial channels. They used to reach agreements with Arab Radio and Television (ART), whose sports channels were bought by Al-Jazeera late in 2009, to broadcast the tournament. There is no love lost between the Egyptian government and Al-Jazeera, with the former accusing the highly-popular network of being biased against the country. It remains to be seen whether a late accord could be struck between Egypt and Al-Jazeera. The Nations Cup takes place from January 10 to 31 in Angola.
