Optus has won the rights to broadcast the Uefa Champions League in Australia not long after it was heavily criticised for its botched coverage of the World Cup.

The broadcaster said in a statement on Friday that it would screen all Champions League matches for the next three years, as well as the Uefa Europa League and the Uefa Super Cup.

It comes after Optus in June relinquished its exclusive rights to some World Cup matches to SBS amid complaints about ongoing streaming glitches, including from the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull.

The company said in its statement on Friday that the Optus Sport streaming service would remain free until the end of the August – an offer initially extended to fans as a “goodwill gesture” at the height of the World Cup streaming controversy.

It had also offered refunds to fans who had purchased its streaming service to watch the World Cup at the time.

The broadcaster made the Champions League announcement on the same day its mobile phone network was hit by an network outage that prevented Australian customers from making or receiving calls.

Ben White, Optus’ managing director of marketing and product, said in a statement that winning the rights to the Champions League highlighted “our confidence in our platforms as well as our production and approach”.

“We are fully committed to our long-term strategy of delivering must-have exclusive content for customers and will continue to build our credentials of delivering an excellent viewing experience for customers across the Optus Sport platforms.”

Guy-Laurent Epstein, Uefa’s director of marketing, said: “Optus has proven its dedication to football in recent years, acquiring a considerable portfolio of premium footballing content.”

Despite the controversy over Optus’ World Cup coverage, many football fans appeared to welcome the news.

As long as the streams don’t stop and the EPL is available for a monthly fee then it’s good news — Luke hoyle (@hoyley098) August 3, 2018

Massive W for Optus securing Champions League rights in Australia.



If they can cover the CL anywhere near as well as they covered the World Cup minus the technical difficulties, this will be excellent. — Stephen Ganavas ⚽ (@StephenScouted) August 3, 2018

Optus have the Champions League YESSSSSSSSSS — AJ Cadman (@AJC97Oxford) August 2, 2018

Optus also already holds the live Australian rights to the English Premier League.

Last season’s Champions League was aired on Foxtel, but Optus had been confident of securing the rights for the 2018-19 season and beyond.