Al Jazeera and beIN Sports broadcasts are blocked
Etisalat subscribers angry over refusal to issue refunds
DUBAI // Qatari broadcasters beIN Sports and Al Jazeera have been blocked. The sports and news channels have been unavailable since Monday night.
BeIN has the sole rights in the Middle East to broadcast the English Premier League, La Liga in Spain and tournaments such as the World Cup, and there are now question marks over Qatar’s ability to host the football World Cup in 2022.
Access to beIN and Al Jazeera websites also appears to have been blocked.
“I think it got blocked some time on Monday,” said Philip Johnstone from the UK, who subscribes to Etisalat’s eLife package.
“I called Etisalat and there was an automated response saying the channels were unavailable for technical reasons.”
Another Etisalat customer said it was unfair that subscribers were being penalised.
“It’s frustrating that people have paid for channels they can no longer access,” he said.
“Etisalat haven’t been helpful at all about the situation.
“When I called, the sales staffer on the other end was doing all he could to stop me from cancelling the package.
“If this continues over the summer, then there’s no point keeping the package.”
One Etisalat customer said staff were refusing to refund the Dh90 a month he pays for the beIN sports package but failed to explain why.
Another subscriber said more people would have complained had the channels been blocked during the football season.
“Can you imagine what would have happened if this took place a few months ago?” he said.
“I think because people leaving for the summer, there is less of an outcry. Etisalat and du should not charge their customers for channels they aren’t able to provide.” Du said that their agents would be in contact with customers soon.