KUALA LUMPUR: RTM has clarified that it had aired a live broadcast of national men's singles professional badminton player Lee Zii Jia's group stage match at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Wednesday.
"As the official broadcaster of the Paris 2024 Olympics, RTM aired Lee Zii Jia's match live on Saluran Okey (channel) on July 31 from 8.50 pm to 9.30 pm (MyTV, Astro & RTMKLIK)," said Broadcasting Department director-general Datuk Suhaimi Sulaiman in a statement last night.
"RTM broadcasts the Olympics live through two main channels, Saluran TV Okey and Saluran Sukan, and six special channels on RTMKlik, to fulfil the wishes of Malaysians wanting to experience the excitement of the Olympics up close from July 27 to August 12," he said.
He also said that a a men's singles badminton match involving shuttlers from Israel and Nepal was inadvertently broadcast for less than five minutes on RTMKlik's Olympic Channel 4 on Wednesday night and was promptly switched to a live coverage of a handball event.
Yesterday, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil had asked RTM to explain the alleged lack of live coverage of Zii Jia's final group stage match at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Wednesday.
This followed a Facebook user expressing dissatisfaction that RTM, as the national broadcaster, did not air Zii Jia's match against the world number 62 from Spain, Pablo Abian, instead showing the match between Israel's Misha Zilberman and Prince Dahal from Nepal. — BERNAMA