Canberra, Jun 21 (IANS): The Australian public broadcaster has said it will continue to air free the Russia World Cup soccer matches to the end of the month, a statement said.

The partially government-funded Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) which stepped in to air the World Cup matches for two days earlier in the week following technical glitches by online streaming provider Optus made the statement following "further discussions".

The statement said the SBS will continue simulcasting the 2018 FIFA World Cup until the end of Group Stage on June 29, Xinhua news agency reported.

The group matches were supposed to be streamed online through telcom giant Optus, but audiences were hit with playback and buffering problems plaguing a sport app and leaving subscribers who paid for the service unable to access it.

A deal was later made to have SBS air all the soccer matches for free on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Optus has also said it will offer its sport streaming service for free until August 31, and offer a refund for its World Cup subscriptions.