Middle East

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Asian Football Confederation has said it will continue to work with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and the United Arab Emirates Football Association to ensure the uninterrupted broadcast of AFC Champions League and Fifa World Cup qualifying matches in a bid to protect its commercial rights amid the ongoing situation concerning rights-holder, Qatar-based pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports.

Qatar-based pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has returned to the screens of Etisalat and Du customers in the UAE.

Goal, the football news website operated by digital sports media company Perform, has agreed a deal to show video coverage of this year’s Arab Championship club football tournament.

Uefa has earned an increase of about 40 per cent in the value of its Europa League rights in Israel following a renewal with Charlton.

Middle Eastern pay-television operator OSN has extended an agreement for rights to the Bellator mixed martial arts series.

Up to 11 new sports channels that will be based in Egypt and funded by Saudi Arabia are set to be launched in the coming weeks and months, according to Muflih Al-Hafatah, the chairman of the Saudi Media City complex.

Qatar-based pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has come under further sanctions in the Middle East region following action taken in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The FIH, the global governing body of hockey, has agreed rights deals with a number of broadcasters in various regions around the world.

The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), the organising body of the 2022 Fifa World Cup national team football tournament in Qatar, has entered into a partnership with local sports channel operator Al Kass.

Uefa was the beneficiary this month as Israel’s Sports Channel paid a fee increase of about 440 per cent to renew its Champions League rights.

The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) has extended its rights agreement with Israeli pay-television broadcaster The Sports Channel.

The MP & Silva agency has agreed an exclusive deal to distribute the media rights for the Desert Force Championship Middle Eastern mixed martial arts series.