MENA

Full Play, which has been accused of bribing football executives, held talks with an entity associated with Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser al-Khelaifi over a possible sale of the sports marketing agency, according to testimony in the trial of three ex-football officials from Latin America by Santiago Pena, a former financial executive at the Argentinian business.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has signed a six-year rights deal with beIN Media Group covering the Middle East and North Africa, with the Qatar-based broadcaster set to form a new channel to accommodate its growing cricket content.

BeIN Media Group agreed its first deal for cricket rights last week, marking a notable change in strategy and a clear statement of intent it will go after content traditionally held by its Middle-Eastern rival OSN.

Racecourse Media Group, the holding company responsible for a range of media and data rights involving a host of horse-racing destinations, has signed a two-year extension to its partnership with Dubai’s Meydan Group.

BeIN Media Group has made its first move into the cricket rights sector after signing a long-term partnership with the Cricket Australia national governing body.

Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chief executive of Qatar-owned beIN Media Group, has said he will travel to Switzerland on October 25 to answer questions from Swiss prosecutors amid ongoing investigations into the sale of Fifa World Cup rights, while it has emerged that beIN will be quizzed over alleged monopolistic practices in the Egyptian market.

Fifa secretary general Fatma Samoura has said she hopes the criminal investigations into the sale of World Cup rights to Qatari-owned beIN Media Group will not “disrupt” Qatar’s preparations for the staging of the 2022 edition of the national team football tournament.

BeIN Media Group and former Fifa secretary general Jérôme Valcke have denied any wrongdoing after the office of the Swiss Attorney General (OAG) confirmed that it has opened a criminal proceeding against the Frenchman and Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chief executive of the broadcaster.

The office of the Swiss Attorney General (OAG) confirmed today (Thursday) that it has opened a criminal proceeding against former Fifa secretary general Jérôme Valcke and Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the chief executive of beIN Media Group, in relation to the award of media rights for the World Cup national team football tournament.

BeIN Media Group has agreed a new three-year partnership with digital security company Irdeto.

BeIN Media Group has been joined by a further eight sports organisations in its bid to shut down a pirate channel called beoutQ, which is operating in Saudi Arabia.

Qatari broadcaster beIN Media Group has agreed a programming partnership with the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Channel platform.

Uefa has almost trebled the value of its Champions League and Europa League media rights in the Middle East and North Africa, following a renewal with Qatar-based beIN Media Group.

BeIN Media Group has teamed up with an alliance of sporting organisations and broadcasters to call on Saudi Arabia to shut down a pirate channel called beoutQ in the country.

Middle Eastern pay-television operator OSN has launched Wavo, a new streaming service.

OTT sports subscription service DAZN, Middle Eastern pay-television operator OSN and pay-television operator Fox Networks Group Latin America have acquired rights to the heavily-hyped crossover fight between undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor.