March 24, 2023, 4:05 PM
March 24, 2023, 4:05 PM
Absolute paper. The FBF presented the futbol.bo website with great fanfare, and it did not work for the match against Uzbekistan. The idea is great, an exclusive portal for the Federation and Selection, where fans can pay individually for the games they want to see, but the technical details were beyond the capabilities of the FBF.
There was a bad omen since the constant modification of the release date. First it was March 17, then March 21, then March 23, and finally it was less than 24 hours before the game between Bolivia and Uzbekistan. Fernando Costa presented it at a press conference and assured that everyone could purchase the services of 35bs for one game or 50bs for both (against Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia), but social networks denied the president.
The image of Bolivian soccer.
Thus, they promise and do not fulfill. And if they do, it’s kicking, with meaningless improvisations.
50Bs to the water. pic.twitter.com/HS93mFA6gG
— Erwin Quispe Perca (@ErwinQuispePerk) March 24, 2023
I gave 45 minutes to https://t.co/c40uxcyxhg to see if the signal was settled and everything was corrected, but NOTHING HAPPENED: unstable and hanging all the time
As an extra bonus, the Federation of Uzbekistan released its broadcast on the YouTube channel.
a complete mockery
— Abraham Afcha (@abrahamafcha) March 24, 2023
Disappointing. Little to rescue from the first part of the green game. I just hope that Zabala’s injury is not serious and that they refund my 50 pens because I could only watch on the channel?? (free, by the way). The platform, at least for me, doesn’t work for me. #piratebutton?☠️
— Álex Cabo ?? (@alexpiratacabo) March 24, 2023
To top it off, the Federation of Uzbekistan on YouTube was broadcasting the match freely and for free. The vast majority of Bolivians ended up following the game with the stories of the Uzbek journalists, from the channel of their Selection.
At the end of the first half, when many already asked for a refund, and the FBF granted it. The Federation’s Facebook page published a statement stating that “due to technical problems”, the transmission was no longer on futbol.bo, but on a state channel.
At the end of the statement, they pointed out that users who purchased “access to this event will be refunded”, leaving open the question about the refund to those who bought the combo of the two games (Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia); and placed restrictions on the publication, so that no user can comment on it.
What happened to the web?
One of the big complaints was the validation of the accounts. The steps were to register an email, verify the email with a code that had to reach the email, and then go to the web and buy access to the matches. Some users did not receive the verification email (the one that contained the code that the FBF had to provide), others did, but the code was not accepted by the web.
As additional information, the FBF indicated that the media that wished to broadcast the match via radio (it was forbidden to do so on social networks or via the web), could access an accreditation and have the match free of charge to work with it. According to the version of some colleagues and radio portals, the accreditation arrived and was registered, but even so the web requested the purchase of the matches. The accreditation did not work.
The FBF suffered a new role. We will have to wait and see what happens against Saudi Arabia; if they will have the same portal to transmit the game or they will go to television. According to comments, the objective is for the FBF to broadcast the Qualifying matches on futbol.bo, but these episodes take away the credibility of the portal, and the same intention of the Federation to digitize and individually take the Bolivian matches towards the 2026 World Cup.
