BeIN Sports (Middle East)

On January 4, the Egyptian Competition Authority accused Caf of contravening Egyptian competition law – specifically laws surrounding abuse of a dominant position.

BeIN Media Group has agreed a deal for Vox Cinemas to screen live coverage of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final of this year’s Uefa Euro 2016 national team football tournament in its outlets across the Middle East and North Africa.

BeIN Media Group has acquired rights for the Wimbledon Championships in the Middle East and North Africa.

BeIN Media Group has agreed a three-season extension to its broadcast rights deal for football’s English Premier League in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Another public-service broadcasting union lost its grip on Olympic Games rights following deals signed by the International Olympic Committee late last month.

BeIN Sports and Abu Dhabi Media are bidding head-to-head for two major football properties in the Middle East and North Africa – England’s Premier League and Uefa’s European Qualifiers.

Telefónica’s acquisition of all rights to two Primera Liga clubs, and its bid to acquire the rights to Spanish giant Barcelona, are aimed at strengthening the telco’s position ahead of changes in the domestic broadcast market.

Pay-television broadcaster Al Jazeera, which operates the beIN Media Group, is considering bidding for a free-to-air DTT licence in Spain and attempting to acquire rights for the Liga, the top division of football in the country, according to the Vozpopuli news website.

Bjørn Taalesen, the director of sports at Norwegian commercial and pay-television broadcaster TV2, has apologised for comments he made following the acquisition of rights for the 2015 and 2017 men’s and women’s Handball World Championships.

Yousuf Al Sarkal, the president of the UAE Football Association, has criticised the media rights-sales process for the 2014 Gulf Cup of Nations and called for a committee to be established to avoid future difficulties in relation to the national team football tournament.

Pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports will resume full live coverage in the Middle East and North Africa of English Premier League football matches that kick off at 15.00 on Saturdays in the UK.

BeIN Media Group, the holding company of Qatari pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports, has closed a deal to acquire the Setanta Sports Australia pay-television operation.

Uefa earned a strong increase in its Champions League rights fee in Spain last week, with most industry insiders believing it had Qatari broadcaster beIN Media Group to thank.

Qatari pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports is in advanced negotiations to secure the rights to the German Bundesliga in the Middle East and North Africa, TV Sports Markets understands.

Pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports has agreed a sublicence deal with state-owned broadcaster Dubai Sports Channels to broadcast the 2014-15 season of football’s German Bundesliga on an exclusive basis in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Fox Sports Latin America and ESPN International were forced to increase their fee for the Uefa Champions League and Europa League pay-television rights in Latin America this month to see off aggressive rival bids from Qatari-owned broadcaster beIN Sports and Spanish telco Telefónica.