Cup is empty for many members of Military

Cup is empty for many members of Military
by Richard Sandomir

Marine Lt. Erin Kelly, a former soccer player at East Brunswick (N.J.) High School and the United States Naval Academy, is in her second tour of duty in Iraq and looked forward to watching the World Cup.

But when word came last week that FIFA’s media representative would not make a deal with the Defense Department’s American Forces Network, she wrote in an e-mail message to her father, John, “Can you believe this?”

Her message, which was provided by her father, was prompted by one sent by a service member to her and other military personnel that said: “It is a sad day indeed. AFN will not carry any World Cup matches. Not even U.S. games.” The network is part of the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.

Lieutenant Kelly, her father said, is friends with Tim Howard, the goalkeeper who played at North Brunswick High School and is on the United States World Cup team and Manchester United. “This would have been pretty big for them over there,” John Kelly said. “They don’t have much else…

Cmdr. Greg Kicks, a Pentagon spokesman, said that although the major sports leagues in the United States provided free coverage of their games, the Switzerland-based Infront Sports and Media, which distributes World Cup rights for FIFA, sought a rights fee.

Kicks said that the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service was not budgeted to purchase sports programming. “We rely on the generosity of many organizations to support our military members by providing sports programming free of charge,” he said.

He said that many United States military personnel based overseas would be able to watch the World Cup on commercial cable or other outlets. But those stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan and aboard ships are largely dependent on the network’s satellite.

“It’s disappointing and it’s unfortunate,” he said. About one million military personnel and their families watch the network in 177 countries.

E-mails to FIFA were not returned.

Scott Sandahl, a master sergeant at the Yokota Air Base in Japan, said Monday in the military newspaper Stars and Stripes: “It’s sad that money has dictated that military service members won’t see the World Cup. This is the biggest sport in the world. For people stationed overseas, it’s a big part of the culture all around us.

“This is the big-money rights holders saying they don’t care, that the U.S. military isn’t worth donating or giving it at a fraction of the cost to AFN.”