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.
BeIN Media Group claims that beoutQ is showing the broadcaster’s “propriety media content.”
The alliance comprises Uefa, football’s European governing body, and LaLiga, which operates the top two football divisions in Spain, as well as the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance.
BeIN Media Group has exclusive rights for various sports properties in the Middle East and North Africa.
Yousef Al-Obaidly, deputy chief executive at beIN Media Group, said: “BeIN Media Group has been made aware of the unauthorised, pirated broadcast of our channels’ content in Saudi Arabia. The broadcast by ‘beoutQ’ contravenes both Saudi and international law on intellectual property rights. We hope that the Saudi authorities will honour Saudi domestic laws… to protect and enforce our intellectual property rights to the full extent.
"We are pursuing all available legal options to ensure our and our rights-holders' intellectual property rights are respected. We are committed to providing all of our customers with the highest quality access to the latest and greatest global sporting events.”