For more than a decade, Ariana Television Network (ATN) has faithfully brought global sporting events into the homes of millions of fans in Afghanistan, including the latest triumph – the all exciting FIFA World Cup 2022.

Viewers around the country were treated to a non-stop, exclusive viewing spectacle this past month that spanned a period of almost four weeks – and it was a tournament that contained lots of thrills, spills, upsets and surprise exits.

The final match played this past Sunday between Argentina and France proved however to be the jewel in the crown (or in this case trophy) as, according to commentators, it was without a doubt one of the best World Cup finals ever – and ATN made sure fans across the country got to witness every exciting moment live, in the comfort of their homes.

This year, 2022, was indeed a good year for Ariana TV fans – after ATN scored its own “hat trick” when it secured the exclusive rights to broadcast three major sporting events in the second half of the year.

The first was the Asia Cricket Council’s Asia Cup T20 which was played from August 27 to September 11.

The tournament was hosted by Sri Lanka but held in the UAE – in Dubai and Sharjah – and matches were broadcast live across Afghanistan on Ariana Television.

The second major sporting event that ATN took into the homes of fans was this year’s ICC T20 World Cup, which took place from October 16 to November 13 in Australia.

This was another four week period of world class sport delivered live and exclusive in Afghanistan by ATN.

However, the jewel in the sporting calendar crown ended the year on a high note – the FIFA World Cup 2022, which took place in Qatar between November 20 to December 18.

Afghans love cricket, and they love football, and to have almost three months of live and uninterrupted world class matches brought directly to them resulted in joy, excitement and happiness for millions of fans in the country.

One cricket fan, Khogyani said on Facebook during the T20 World Cup: “Thank you Ariana, my family is so happy that we can watch this cricket.”

Ahmadi, another fan who took to Facebook after Argentina scooped the coveted football trophy also expressed his appreciation and said: “Thank you Ariana. You brought my hero Leo Messi [in]to my home.”

These are just two of millions of grateful fans who have consistently liked and thanked Ariana Television over the past few months. And the good news is that knowing world class tournaments bring so much joy to the nation, ATN hopes to secure the broadcasting rights of more sporting events in 2023.

But, 2022 wasn’t the first year such momentous games, matches and tournaments were brought to Afghans by ATN – in fact, Ariana Television has consistently broadcast spectacular events over the years.

In 2014, we brought our viewers FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 and after that came the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio which was followed by FIFA World Cup Russia 2018; then Afghanistan Premier League 2019; then Indian Premier League 2019 and the Beach Soccer World Cup in Paraguay in 2019.

There was a hiatus in 2020 – globally, in terms of sporting events, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but things picked up in 2021 and ATN broadcast three key events, the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 which were actually held in July 2021; the ICC T20 Men’s World Cup 2021 and the Futsal World Cup 2021.

This year, 2022, took a sharp upturn as lockdowns around the pandemic lifted and global sporting events got back on track. For Ariana Television it was indeed a fun-filled year of sport that included the latest FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 tournament; the ICC T20 Men’s World Cup 2022; the Asia Cup 2022; Asian Le Mans Series 2022; Winter Olympic Games Beijing 2022 and the ever-popular Indian Premier League 2022.

Going forward however, ATN plans to bring its viewers as many live broadcasts of major sporting events in 2023 as possible – so make sure to watch this space for announcements, and schedules as well as round ups and results.

We will make sure to keep all our fans informed!