The sports arm of local cable TV ASTRO, Arena has yet again apologized over their failure to show the crowning of Sarawak as Premier League champions during the Sarawak vs Kuala Lumpur match.
According to a message posted on the Arena Facebook page, the station appreciates the support showed by many towards the station, and wished it could fulfill the hopes of fans by showing all football games live.
However, the station re-irritated that such move was not possible as there is only one Arena channel available.
The message which was carried out in local Sarawak dialect, Bahasa Melayu Sarawak also requested for forgiveness over the incident while at the same time stressing yet again that the channel appreciates the support by Sarawak football fans.
ASTRO Arena has come under scrutiny of the Sarawak fans following the stations inability to show the Sarawak vs Kuala Lumpur game, which was also pre-planned as the Premier League champions declaration.
The disappointment of Sarawak fans over the close to none football live telecast of Sarawak FA games reached its climax when fans of Sarawak hung a huge poster saying ‘No Live? No Problem.’ before the Sarawak vs Kuala Lumpur game, hence mocking the TV station which has always declared Sarawak as one of their most important markets in Malaysia.
Astro has since been seen trying to apologized and console the Sarawak fans through messages over social media, and reruns of Sarawak’s previous games.
Nonetheless, such move proved futile as the slogan ‘No Live? No Problem’ made headlines nationwide with football ultras from other states also joining the echo with many saying teams like Pahang, Johor Darul Takzim, Selangor and Lions XII enjoying better coverage.
Some fans also lamented that Arena was able to show most games which featured a team being crowned as champions, but somehow failed to telecast the Sarawak-Kuala Lumpur game.
A fan also pointed out that during the night of the game, Arena didn’t show any live telecast of any Malaysia football games, which somewhat made the ‘too many games’ excuse invalid.
