KUALA LUMPUR – The Radio Televisyen Malaysia’s (RTM) live broadcast of a Paris Olympics badminton game, featuring an Israeli player, was on air for less than five minutes before the signal for the feed was cancelled, according to the National Broadcasting Department.
Department director-general Datuk Suhaimi Sulaiman said this as he denied allegations by certain quarters that RTM had purportedly sidelined national singles ace Lee Zii Jia’s match.
“We did broadcast (Lee’s) match on (RTM channel) TV Okey and (online app) RTMKlik. It was also available on Astro and MYTV’s platforms.
“Once we realised that the Israel vs Nepal badminton match was on air, we cancelled it almost immediately. It was on air for less than five minutes as we worked on cancelling the signal and scrambling the stream,” he told Scoop.
Suhaimi’s comment comes after Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil earlier today said he will be seeking an explanation from RTM, in response to online criticism thrown at the national broadcaster over the matter.
Last night, a Facebook post lambasting RTM for its broadcast of Israeli men’s singles player Misha Zilberman’s match against Nepal’s Prince Dahal made the rounds on social media.
In the post, the user claimed that RTM had failed to provide substantive screen time for Zii Jia’s Group G battle against Spain’s Pablo Abian, which took place concurrently with Zilberman-Dahal’s Group P match.
The Malaysian shuttler managed to smash his way to the round of 16 by the end of the game, with Zilberman also managing to defeat his opponent.
However, the Israeli athlete will not advance to the knockout stage due to two previous losses.
Zii Jia will be going against Frenchman Toma Popov later today at 8.10pm, after Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting was eliminated from the competition. – August 1, 2024