The Kenyan High Court has blocked Zuku TV and Star Times from showing further coverage of football’s 2014 Fifa World Cup after state-run broadcaster KBC applied for an injunction against the pay-television operators.
KBC, the exclusive rights-holder of free-to-air World Cup coverage in the country, accused Zuku TV and Star Times of broadcasting a match from the tournament in the country without permission.
“The companies broadcast the World Cup tournament and related events without authorisation,” the application said.
KBC alleged that the companies had accessed its signal to broadcast the opening match of the tournament between Brazil and Croatia on June 12, according to the Daily Nation newspaper.
“Even after KBC blocked Star Times from its [digital platform] DDT, Star Times allegedly used the analogue signal to re-broadcast live matches of KBC to its Kenyan viewers and those in Uganda and Tanzania,” the Consumer Federation of Kenya said.