Subscribers said they have been unable to enjoy matches and that some distributors increased the price of Al-Jazeera cards to SR600.

“Despite the high prices, we subscribed to enjoy matches, especially those in which major countries like Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Spain, Italy, England and France are playing,” said one subscriber.

“We should be compensated for the poor service similar to how Al-Jazeera has compensated people in the UAE,” said another subscriber.

Saudi citizen Fahd Abdullatif said he only subscribed to Al-Jazeera to enjoy watching World Cup matches and the world’s best football teams. “What really saddened me was the halts in transmission on the opening day,” he said, adding that the same happened on Tuesday during the Brazil and North Korea match.

“We didn’t get any pleasure in watching even though we had paid to watch. For the amount of money we’ve paid, we should have had good coverage,” he said. Turki Hazzam said that the service has not been good. “What did we do that we’re not getting good service?” he said.

Hazzam said it would have been cheaper if he had got someone to illegally decode his satellite box to watch the matches. “I shouldn’t have spent money on getting the subscription,” he added.

Muneer Al-Ghamdi said he is angry at Al-Jazeera, especially in light of the amount of money he has paid. “Where are our consumer rights?” he said. He further called on the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to protect the rights of Al-Jazeera subscribers in the Kingdom in the same way that the UAE’s Ministry of Economy has made arrangement with Al-Jazeera to compensate subscribers in the UAE.

Youssef Al-Hugaily supported him and also called on the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to protect the rights of Saudi subscribers.

Ali Al-Saher sells Al-Jazeera cards, he said, “We’re not responsible for the transmission problems. We’re only responsible for selling suitable cards and whether channels can be viewed.”

Officials at Al-Jazeera and Nilesat, the satellite through which the channel is being transmitted, have exchanged accusations about who is to blame for the interruptions. They have now agreed to form a joint team to investigate the source of the problem.