Bayern’s Dutch hitman Arjen Robben

Five lakh cable homes tuned in to Manthan could well miss the finale of a historic transition in club football on Saturday night with TEN Sports and TEN Action blanking them out a week ahead of the UEFA Champions League final.

Zee Network’s sports bouquet — TEN Sports, TEN Action and TEN Cricket — has been off air for more than a week and even the Manthan management isn’t sure the channels will be back before kick-off at Wembley.

Sudip Ghosh, one of the directors of Manthan Broadband Services, accused Zee Network of scoring an off-side goal.

“There is a case pending with the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal regarding payment (to Zee). The tribunal is not in session at the moment and the broadcaster chose this time to take the channels off because football has such a big following here,” he said.

The Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund final isn’t just a title clash, it’s the first all-German Champions League final that many see as a power shift from Spanish dominance of football and the revival of German supremacy in Europe. What makes the match even more interesting in prospect is that Dortmund hasn’t lost to Bayern in their last five meetings.

Chanakya Hridaya, a final-year student at IIT Kharagpur, is as heartbroken as Bayern will be if they again finish runners-up like in two of the last three editions of the Champions League.

“I am home for a holiday and seeing Ten Sports off air is frustrating. It’s not fair that that I might miss a historic Champions League final because of a tussle between the MSO and the broadcaster,” said 24-year-old from VIP Road.

Abhishek Banerjee, a 32-year-old resident of Mukundapur, is hoping the residents’ association of his housing complex will strike a deal with another multi-system operator ahead of the big-ticket final.

“We have had problems with Manthan. Messages from the broadcasters often pop up, interrupting the live beam. Now TEN Sports and TEN Action are off air just when you need them,” said the miffed fan.

Sources said the stand-off was the fallout of actual subscription figures tumbling out following digitisation of cable television. Broadcasters, who had been losing revenue because of fudged figures in the era of analogue television, are now demanding their due and ready to go off air if cable operators don’t fall in line.

Fans are, of course, already smarting from being greeted by blank screens during Thursday’s Europa Cup final between Chelsea and Benfica, which was available live for viewing only on TEN Sports.

Those who cannot change MSOs or switch to direct-to-home service such as Tata Sky, Airtel TV and Dish TV, the only option is to catch Saturday night’s match at a friend or relative’s place.

“As a die-hard Chelsea fan, it was very disappointing to be denied the chance to watch my team win the Europa Cup last week. For the Champions League final, I have made advance plans of watching the match on Sunday at a friend’s place,” said Sunny Lyngdoh, a 26-year-old market research analyst who stays in James Long Sarani.

Where will you watch the Champions League final? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com