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Rabat – Saudi Arabia’s loss in its first World Cup game has lead the head of Saudi Arabia’s General Sports Authority Federation, Turki Al Sheikh, to blame Qatari-owned sports network beIN Sports.
Al Sheikh took to his Twitter account today, announcing that Saudi Arabia will undertake “necessary legal action” against beIN Sports.
“Necessary legal action will be taken in relation to BeIN wrongdoings against K.S.A, its sports & officials, and for exploiting sports to achieve political goals. This proves Saudi authorities’ true stance when banning this network from airing on its soil.”
After the game, internet users shared videos, accusing beIN sports of being biased for Russia during the game.
Saudi Arabia lost 5-0 to the host country. The World Cup’s opening game was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman.
Al Sheikh was angry over Saudi Arabia’s weak performance against Russia. After the game, Al Sheikh shared a video on his Twitter, saying that he took “full responsibility for this score in front of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and sports fans. We paid all their [the players’] dues, and they came to the game without exerting even five percent of the effort needed.”
Last month, beIN Sports, which owns the broadcast rights to the World Cup, accused a Saudi-based piracy network called “BeOutQ” of pirating the transmission of the 64 games of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The Saudi channel is “geo-locked,” so internet users across Saudi Arabia can access the channel for GBP 80.
BeIN Sports also urged FIFA to take measures against the channel, investing GBP 12,000 to stop BeOutQ from stealing broadcasts of sports events.
