DOHA (AFP) - Qatari broadcaster beIN Sports on Tuesday (March 12) threatened legal action against the Asian Football Confederation, alleging the governing body had "surrendered" to Saudi Arabia in a new row over Gulf broadcasting rights.
Earlier on Tuesday, the AFC announced it would live-stream free matches featuring Saudi clubs in the region's premier club competition, the Champions League.
BeIN hold the rights to air competition matches.
The latest flashpoint comes amid a long-running row between the two countries over sports broadcasting, which has seen Qatar accuse Saudi of facilitating "industrial-scale" piracy of its programmes through a channel called "beoutQ", a claim Riyadh denies.
It also comes amid an ongoing bitter diplomatic Gulf crisis which has seen Qatar boycotted for the past 21 months by neighbouring former allies including Saudi Arabia.
"In response to the extraordinary announcement by the AFC... beIN is set to launch a major international legal dispute against the Confederation for material breach of its multi-million dollar broadcast agreement." beIN added the move was "clearly political".
The Doha-based sports broadcasting giant has held a contract with the AFC since 2013 to cover Champions League games as well as the Asian Cup tournament.
BeIN is thought to spend around US$38 million (S$51.5 million) a year on the contract, which is up for renewal in 2020.
In a statement, the AFC said it had made the move to "protect the rights of its commercial and broadcast partners".
Matches will be live-streamed on geo-blocked digital channels including Facebook Live, added the AFC.
A statement from the Saudi Press Agency said the AFC, in a letter to the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, was cancelling "the monopoly of beIN sports channels".
The news agency said the decision was based on "serious legal and systematic violations" committed by beIN.
This will not be the first legal action threatened by beIN.
Last October it launched a US$1-billion compensation claim against Saudi broadcasters over the issue of piracy.
The latest row comes just weeks before the AFC elects its new president.
One of the three candidates is Qatar's Saoud al-Mohannadi.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists the Premier League title race is something to get excited about rather than stressed about despite seeing his side overhauled by Manchester City in the past
Klopp excited by Premier League title fight - sports.yahoo.com
Four fans get stadium ban. TV cameras caught a home supporter hurling vitriol at Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling during the 2-0 win and the club have since said they will not hesitate to
When fans get banned for life from sports stadiums - The
WOLVERHAMPTON, England (REUTERS) - Liverpool will spend Christmas on top of the Premier League after goals from Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk earned them a 2-0 win at Wolves on Friday (Dec 21
Liverpool seal Christmas top spot as Salah and Van Dijk sink
United not 'satisfied' despite winning run, says David de Gea. Manchester United's perfect record under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Man United not 'satisfied' despite winning run, says De Gea
Manchester: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continued his dream start as Manchester United caretaker manager with a 3-1 Premier League win over Huddersfield on his Old Trafford debut in the dugout on Wednesday.
Premier League: Pogba Strikes Twice, Man Utd Win On Solskjaer
Find Live Cricket Scores, Match updates, Fixtures, Results, News, Articles, Video highlights only at ESPNcricinfo. Read Ball by Ball Commentary, Series schedule of all ICC International & Domestic
Boy catches angry 10ft snake with bare hands in Indonesia
Football Asian Cup: Jordan stuns defending champ Australia in 1-0 win retain the Asian Cup, the champions will have to do it the hard way. appearance in the Asian Cup, Australia likely
Asian Cup 2019: Defending champions Australia shocked by
PARIS, June 7 (Reuters) - France got off to a perfect start in the women's World Cup as the hosts beat South Korea 4-0 in the opening game at the Parc des Princes on Friday. Eugenie Le Sommer and
Football: France make light work of South Korea in World Cup
Wigan 0 Everton 1: Tim Cahill heads late winner as Toffees extend splendid run. 'In Germany when I win, after the game I am half p****d, but I didn't even get a water!':
West Ham 0-2 Everton RESULT - Toffees win at London Stadium
Morata double earns Spain scrappy win (1:05) Spain produced a second lacklustre performance in the space of four days in an unimpressive 0-2 win in Malta.
Euro2020: Morata's Brace Lift Spain Above Malta - Red Cheetah
Reaction after Liverpool win 3-1 at Bayern Munich to make it four English teams in the last eight of the Champions League. his touch past Gerard Pique takes the ball out of reach and he comes
Official Liverpool FC Store | Liverpool FC Ball
AD
store.liverpoolfc.com/ball
Report Ad
Browse Our Wide Range Of Exclusive Liverpool FC Souvenirs. Shop Online Now.
Emery urges fired-up Gunners to keep cool heads LONDON • Unai Emery has called on his players to "control their emotions" with Arsenal staring at a Europa League exit at the last-16 stage unless they can overturn a 3-1 deficit against Rennes in the second leg today.
The Straits Times - Breaking News, Lifestyle & Multimedia News
Benzema saves Real Madrid blushes with late Huesca winner Karim Benzema stopped Real Madrid's underwhelming La Liga season going from bad to worse on Sunday after firing a last-minute winner
Benzema saves Real Madrid blushes with late Huesca winner
Football news - Wolves beat Bournemouth in their best top-flight run for 38 years. Wolves' previous top-flight campaign in 2011-12 ended with just 25 points and relegation.
Wolves beat Bournemouth in their best top-flight run for 38
Note: Citations are based on reference standards. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. The specific requirements or preferences of your reviewing publisher, classroom teacher, institution or organization should be applied.
Pain management - Wikipedia
0 comments:
Post a Comment