Saudi Ministry hits back as F1 launches BeoutQ probe

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.

Liberty Media, which owns F1, said that it was aware of coverage of the motor-racing series being available on the controversial platform.

“BeoutQ has not acquired any rights from Formula One to transmit coverage of the FIA Formula One World Championship,” Liberty Media said. “Formula One takes intellectual property infringement of this nature extremely seriously, we are looking into the issue and those that are involved and will take appropriate action.”

Football’s global and European governing bodies, Fifa and Uefa, have hit out at BeoutQ in recent weeks, while several broadcasters, including beIN Sports, Telemundo and NBCUniversal have complained that their content – including coverage of the ongoing Fifa World Cup in Russia – is being shown illegally on the platform.

Uefa said last week that BeoutQ is “based in Saudi Arabia” and has illegally distributed coverage of the Uefa Champions League and Europa League football tournaments throughout the 2017-18 season.