Turkish state broadcaster TRT will not show matches from the 2014 Fifa World Cup football tournament that clash with programming concerned with breaking the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç.
The Hurriyet Daily News website said Arınç made the announcement during parliamentary questioning from his opposition counterpart Sezgin Tanrıkulu on whether TRT would sub-contract the rights to this summer’s tournament in Brazil to another broadcaster.
Arınç said TRT 1 would not broadcast some of the matches during the quarter-final phase of the World Cup as they coincide with the breaking of the fast during the Islamic holy month, and he added that talks were ongoing with other broadcasters over contracting the rights to those matches.
The 2014 World Cup runs from June 12 to July 13, with Ramadan taking place between June 28 and July 27. Turkey has not qualified for the tournament.