Saudi ban on BEIN casts doubt on Newcastle deal
Saudi Arabia’s takeover attempt at Newcastle was plunged into deeper uncertainty last night as state officials announced the permanent banning of one of the Premier League’s biggest TV rights holders.
A fresh attack on BEIN Sports was branded “nonsensical on every level” by the Qatari broadcaster, which has been locked in a threeyear dispute with the state over the Beoutq TV piracy scandal.
The licence removal by Saudi’s general authority for competition (GAC) is said to be part of a wider strategy to launch an independent bid to screen European domestic sport, the state having already been linked with a potential swoop for Bundesliga rights.
However, the announcement sparked a furious response from Qatar, and places Richard Masters, the Premier League chief executive, under even more pressure as he deliberates over the Newcastle takeover approach by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
understands that those involved in the takeover bid at Newcastle had no knowledge of the announcement about BEIN.
Saudi Arabia says the process that led to the sanction began more than three years ago. Less than a month after the state was criticised by the World Trade Organisation for turning a blind eye to piracy, officials announced on state television that they were fining BEIN Sports £2.1million for alleged “monopolistic practices”.
The broadcaster, which was initially blocked in Saudi Arabia under a boycott imposed when Riyadh and its allies severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar in 2017, said the ruling was “breathtaking”.
“This decision was arrived at through sham legal proceedings that repeatedly violated BEIN’S due process rights and the decision itself is not only contrary to international law but also the most basic principles of competition law,” BEIN said in a statement.
“The decision is nonsensical on every single level, banning BEIN for packaging its rights in the standard way that sports and entertainment broadcasters all around the world do, and indeed as other broadcasters active in the Saudi market also do.”
The Premier League refused to comment last night, but a longspanish awaited decision on its directors’ and owners’ test is said to be imminent. Masters has been deliberating for months over whether to approve the sale, which includes an 80 per cent stake for PIF.
BEIN, which has paid £1.3billion for rights to screen English top-tier matches since 2015, has said it will “reconsider” future rights deals if the Newcastle takeover goes through. GAC said it found BEIN Sports had “abused its dominant position through several monopolistic practices”. The WTO ruling painted a very different picture, attacking Saudi for hosting piracy network Beoutq, which was carried on the national network Arabsat, based in Riyadh and majority owned by the state.