This archive report was first published on 23 April 2020.
On March 14, 2020, the Premier League was suspended due to the growing number of coronavirus cases around the world.
BeIN, a key Premier League broadcast partner, has urged Premier League officials to investigate a Saudi Arabian bid to buy Newcastle United over piracy allegations. The Magpies are on the verge of being sold to a Saudi-backed consortium for approximately Sh40 billion.
As part of the deal, a non-refundable deposit of Sh2.2 billion has already been paid to current owner Mike Ashley. The Premier League must decide if the new owners meet the criteria in its owners and directors test.
BeIN accuses Saudi of masterminding the pirate broadcast of BeIN output, which included EPL games, as part of a spat between Doha and Riyadh. Saudi denies the claims.
BeIN Media chief executive Yousef al-Obaidly wrote in a letter to top-flight English clubs, “My request is purely based on the Saudi Arabia government’s role in the past and continuing theft of the commercial interests of your club, the Premier League, all its broadcast partners and football in general — which, I think you would agree, simply cannot go ignored.”
BeIN alleges that following a breakdown in relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia in 2017, Riyadh established a bootleg sport TV operation that stole BeIN’s feeds. The streams were then rebroadcast on satellites controlled from Riyadh, BeIN says.
