Egypt wants an independent oversight body to investigate Al Jazeera's claim that an Egyptian-managed satellite service carrying its signal was deliberately sabotaged.
A presenter at half-time of the opening match between South Africa and Mexico called on viewers to switch to a rival satellite service after significant disruption to Al Jazeera's signal on Nilesat, which is run by Egypt's broadcasting union.
"Al Jazeera Network is currently investigating the sabotage of the transmission of the 2010 FIFA World Cup coverage that was deliberately jammed on the Nilesat satellite," the channel said in an emailed statement.
"Al Jazeera is taking every possible measure to uncover those behind the incident and to hold them responsible for the interruption of the signal," it added.
"We will launch an official complaint with the International Communications Association to investigate this incident," said Ahmed Anis, chairman of the Nilesat service, that broadcasts more than 450 TV channels from its two satellites.
"We will follow through with all legal measures to respond to such false accusations against Nilesat and its executives," Osama El-Sheikh, head of the Egypt Radio and Television Union was quoted as saying by Egypt's state-run news agency MENA.
The World Cup opening match and several other games were aired on Al Jazeera's free satellite channel, a decision the network announced on the eve of the Cup's kick-off.
FIFA said in a statement that it was "appalled" by any action to try to stop the transmission of World Cup matches.
"Such actions deprive football fans from enjoying the world game in the region. It is not acceptable to FIFA," the football body said in a statement.
Al Jazeera, based in Doha and funded by the Qatari government, aims to compete with networks like the BBC and CNN. Though small - its native population numbers slightly more than 200,000 - Qatar is a rising regional player. Its copious supplies of natural gas have turned it into the world's wealthiest country per capita. A Reuters poll in April showed Qatar's economy was likely to expand by 16.1 percent this year.
Many analysts say that Qatar's vast resources and recent successes in the diplomatic sphere have irritated Egypt - the Arab world's most populous country and traditional power broker - which views diminutive Qatar as an upstart encroaching on its long-held territory.
