Middle East

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Media has rubbished claims it is complicit in the operation of pirate service BeoutQ as a “malicious lie”.

The top sanctioning and governing bodies in tennis have joined forces to “publicly condemn and call for the immediate closure” of BeoutQ, a pirate service based in Saudi Arabia.

International sports broadcaster ESPN has said it will provide live and on demand coverage of the forthcoming World Lacrosse Championships in Europe, the Middle East and Africa via ESPN Player, its direct-to-consumer service.

Amaury Sport Organisation has struck broadcast rights deals in a host of overseas markets ahead of the 2018 edition of the Tour de France cycling race.

Saudi Arabia’s Information Ministry has rubbished claims that it is hosting the BeoutQ pirate service in the kingdom after Formula One became the latest major sports property to vow to “take appropriate action” on the matter.

European football’s governing body Uefa has become embroiled in a spat with Turki Al Alshikh, head of Saudi government body the General Sports Authority, over the dispute between Qatar-based beIN Media Group and Saudi-based channel BeoutQ.

Qatar’s beIN Media Group has said it has been unable to strike a sublicensing deal with Saudi Arabia for rights to the 2018 Fifa World Cup as the Kingdom claimed the broadcaster has backtracked on an agreement brokered with the aid of world football’s governing body.

Pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has resumed carriage via UAE telco Du ahead of the 2018 Fifa World Cup, while Oman has taken action to block beoutQ, a pirate channel that has been broadcasting beIN content.

Social media company Facebook has made its latest high-level appointment as its seeks to further bolster its presence in the sports rights market, with Rhys Beer joining from US media group NBCUniversal.

The Pro League Committee, organising body of the Arabian Gulf League, the top tier of club football in the United Arab Emirates, has partnered with telco Etisalat and the Mediapro agency to deliver live virtual reality coverage of matches.

Kan, the Israeli public-service broadcaster, has tendered rights to 17 Fifa World Cup matches in order to recoup some of its financial outlay on the tournament.

Saudi telco STC has acquired exclusive rights for the country’s professional football competitions and the national football team.

The International Bank of Qatar has denied reports linking it to the ongoing domestic rights-sales process in Italy for Serie A, the top division of football in the country.

Clubs from Serie A, the top division of Italian football, have reportedly rejected a lucrative proposal from the International Bank of Qatar related to the league’s broadcast rights.

International media and entertainment company Discovery Communications has transformed the structure of its regional businesses across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and promoted Kasia Kieli to lead operations.

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.

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.

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.