Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull steps in over Optus World Cup farce

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has lent his weight to the ongoing Optus Sport streaming debacle, reassuring furious fans who have missed out on World Cup coverage.

On Twitter, where countless angry fans vented their fury at the channel’s shaky coverage, Mr Turnbull said he had discussed the issue with chief executive Allen Lew.

“He assures me he is giving the World Cup streaming problems his personal attention and he believes it will be fixed this evening,” he wrote on Twitter.

The resolution would bring to an end a nightmare start for the telco giant, which has received a barrage of complaints from users who were unable to watch many of the games in the first four days of the Russia World Cup.

Optus Sport has exclusive rights to air 39 of the games, while broadcaster SBS will air the remaining 25 games.

The company has blamed an “extremely large number of customers registering for the first time on Optus Sport simultaneously”, and said it had increased capacity to “minimise the risk of this occurring again”.

“Again, while most customers on most platforms were unaffected, we are extremely disappointed that some customers did experience issues,” the company said.

Matildas superstar Sam Kerr joined fans in tweeted her disappointment with Optus Sport.

“Surely if you are streaming the biggest sporting event in the world you have to get it right? Furioussss for all the Aussie’s not being able to watch it,” she wrote.

Fans had paid $15-a-month for the service and there have been countless calls for refunds, including one from basketball ace Andrew Bogut.

“Optus copping an absolute hammering. I hope they do the right thing and send back refunds,” he wrote on Twitter.

“We're paying NOT to watch the World Cup,” wrote Twitter user @Stu0365.