Seven Backs Down...Slightly
Aidan Ormond
Jul 23 2008 16:19
EXCLUSIVE: The Seven Network released a statement this afternoon claiming the Olyroo versus Serbia opening group game on August 7 will be shown "uninterrupted and complete".
To see how John Aloisi's penalty might have looked on Seven...
http://au.fourfourtwo.com/videos/394,aloisis-penalty-if-covered-by-channel-seven.aspx
However, the statement is at odds with what Seven were saying on Monday when the network could not guarantee the Serbia match, set down to be shown at 9pm on a two-hour delay, would not be interrupted for the AOC flag bearer announcement.
Today's Seven statement said in part: "We are planning to cover live the announcement of the Australian who will carry the Australian flag and lead Australia's athletes into the Olympic Stadium.
"The live news nature of this announcement means we are time-shifting the Australia-Serbia match to allow us to cover both this important soccer match uninterrupted and also the live announcement of the Australian who will carry the flag.
"At this point, the exact timing of that announcement is to be confirmed by the Australian Olympic Committee."
Seven claimed our coverage had been inaccurate but when we twice challenged them to specify what we had got wrong, they repeatedly refused to do so, both in email and on the phone.
If they can show us where we misquoted them or misrepresented them, we will happily correct the situation. Seven have already threatened the Green and Gold Army with legal action after they responded to our story.
However, despite repeated, impassioned pleas to Seven - on tape to ensure there could be no further dispute - they declined to clarify where we had been inaccurate. If Seven would like us to put the recording online, we'd be happy to do so.
There are still questions over the coverage of the Argentina and Ivory Coast games, both according to the network's own coverage details, will be shown alongside other sports at similar timeslots.
Judging from today's statement, the network's solution is to cover the flag announcement at whatever time that happens, then show the Serbia match once the announcement cross is completed. Which means, the match broadcast would begin at some point after 9pm.
In the statement, Seven also described the Olyroos as an "iconic" team.
A Statement From FourFourTwo
In light of the recently distributed statement issued by Channel 7, FourFourTwo feel it is necessary to clarify our position and respond to claims of inaccuracies in our reporting.
FourFourTwo have made repeated efforts to gain clarification from representatives of the Seven Network as to what the inaccuracies in our reporting of its proposed coverage of the Australian Mens Football Team at the Beijing Olympics are.
They have been unwilling or unable to do so.
As one of the most respected football magazines in the world, it is not in our interests to mislead football fans as alleged by the Channel 7 statement. Our only objective is to fight for a fair go for Australian football and its supporters at all levels.
Given Channel 7s much publicised treatment of football in the past, we believe Australian football fans are entitled to a clarification as to the nature of Channel 7s Olympic football coverage and we stand by the accuracy of our reporting of this matter.
The Olympic football tournament is a fantastic opportunity for young Australian football players to test themselves against some of the best young players in the world in the most popular sport on the planet. As such it deserves parity of coverage with all major events at the games which, to a football fan, involves seeing all 90 minutes of the game uninterrupted.
We, along with every Australian football fan, look forward to being able to support the Olyroos in Beijing in this manner.
http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/80996,seven-backs-downslightly.aspx