HAMILTON (Bermuda), June 2: Bermuda’s telecommunications minister Saturday ordered the island’s cable television provider to show World Cup soccer games after it pulled the plug on coverage following a judge’s ruling over exclusive rights.

Having got into legal trouble for showing the opening game of the World Cup Friday on a channel that did not have the broadcasting rights on the island, CableVision reacted to a judge’s ruling by dropping coverage entirely on Saturday and refusing to feed a signal to the legitimate broadcaster.

ZBM, the Bermuda Broadcasting Company channel awarded exclusive rights by world soccer’s governing body FIFA to show games from the tournament, won an injunction from the Supreme Court Friday barring CableVision from showing games on ESPN2.

The wording of the court order said CableVision should not show any of the competition “in any fashion” and general manager Jeremy Elmas said Friday he believed the court order clearly stated all channels.

Minister Renee Webb said: “CableVision was taking the wording of the order as justification for shutting down ZBM. They know that under the regulations they have to carry the local channels. The judge’s ruling was with respect to ESPN and other carriers, not ZBM.”—Reuters