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Rabat – The Qatari-based international sports channel, beIN Sports, will offer free broadcasts of the 22 games featuring Arab countries in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The decision follows an alleged piracy operation conducted by Saudi-based channel BeOutQ.
Europe1 reported today that the Saudi channel pirated the transmission of FIFA’s 64 games in the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
BeIN Sports has the rights to feature the Champions League, FIFA’s World Cup finals, and the Premier League throughout the Middle East.
The Independent said that BeOutQ is “geo-locked.” However, people using internet across Saudi Arabia can access the channel for GBP 80.
In response, BeIN Sports spent GBP 120,000 to stop the hackers.
The Independent quoted Managing Director of beIN Sports Tom Keaveny, saying that “the pirated signal is being transmitted by the Riyadh-based satellite provider Arabsat, whose largest shareholder is the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
Keaveney further explained that the BeOutQ action “takes industrial scale knowledge and ability and multimillion-dollar funding.”
On June 4, six Gulf countries led by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain, announced their intention to cut all diplomatic ties with Qatar, citing its alleged involvement in funding terrorist groups.
Saudi Arabia then announced its intention to launch the largest sports network, PBS Sports, to compete with the Qatari sports network.
