Al Jazeera Wants English Premiership Football

Bloomberg News is reporting that Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based broadcaster that started a sports channel five years ago, may bid for the rights to show English Premier League soccer matches in the Middle East.

Sources close to Bloomberg claim that the network is in talks with the league about the rights, which cover three years beginning with the 2010-2011 season. They declined to be identified as the bidding process hasn't started yet.

"Al Jazeera is probably best known for being the primary source of videotaped leaks from Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaida and other jihadist groups," reports SportsByBrooks.

But SBB also reports that Al Jazeera's portfolio includes the likes of the Middle East broadcasting rights for Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A and, starting next fall, the UEFA Champions League.

Initially launched as an Arabic news and current affairs satellite TV channel with the same name, Al Jazeera has since expanded into a network with several outlets, including the Internet and specialty TV channels in multiple languages, and in several regions of the world.

The original Al Jazeera channel's willingness to broadcast dissenting views, including on call-in shows, created controversies in Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The station gained worldwide attention following the September 11, 2001 attacks, when it broadcast video statements by Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders.

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Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com