Irrefutable Proof of Saudi Piracy, Says beIN Sports

Published August 17th, 2018 - 09:09 GMT
In a statement, beIN Sports said research by three international "leading digital security" companies had confirmed Arabsat's involvement.
In a statement, beIN Sports said research by three international "leading digital security" companies had confirmed Arabsat's involvement.

Qatari broadcaster beIN Sports on Thursday said that it has "irrefutable evidence" that Saudi pirate channel beoutQ is illegally showing hundreds of live European football matches and is being carried on the Saudi-based satellite provider Arabsat.

In a statement, beIN Sports said research by three international "leading digital security" companies had confirmed Arabsat's involvement.

"The evidence is irrefutable ” the illegal channel beoutQ is backed by Saudi nationals and openly promoted by leading Saudi figures," said Sophie Jordan, beIN's director of legal affairs."It is broadcast on the Riyadh-based satellite provider Arabsat."

Now, pressure has mounted on Saudi Arabia to end the industrial-scale piracy of world sport as three of the world's leading digital security, media solutions and technology companies ” Cisco Systems, NAGRA and Overon ” have independently and definitively confirmed that beoutQ which has orchestrated a plague of piracy on world sport over the past year is being distributed on the satellite provider Arabsat.

This technical evidence establishes beyond any doubt the involvement of Riyadh-based Arabsat in the most widespread piracy of sports broadcasting that the world has ever seen.

beIN said that since last October the pirate channel beoutQ has been illegally transmitting its broadcasts.

beIN Media Group has paid billions of dollars to secure exclusive rights to broadcast English Premier League and French Ligue 1 matches live.

beIN said their broadcasts from both leagues, which started their new seasons last weekend, were stolen and broadcast illegally across Saudi Arabia.

beoutQ's audacious announcement that it was back to its worst this weekend coincided with the latest incontrovertible evidence presented by Cisco, NAGRA and Overon), that explain in technical detail how Arabsat satellites have been, and still are, transmitting beoutQ's pirate channels.

Tom Keaveny, Managing Director of beIN Media Group, MENA said,"The political games being played by Arabsat, beoutQ and its Saudi backers in stealing our content have consequences that affect the future of world sport, not just beIN SPORTS. That is why the international sports community from FIFA to UEFA, Formula 1 to world tennis, together with a host of other global broadcasters have all taken a stand and publicly condemned this Saudi-based piracy. beoutQ and its Saudi backers seem to think they can operate beyond the reproach of the rule of law and the international norms that everyone else respects."

Since August 2017, beoutQ has been stealing the broadcast feed of some of the most internationally-renowned sports brands and rights holders in the world, pirating everything from the Olympic Games, Formula 1 and Wimbledon tennis, to the UEFA Champions League, the English Premier League and LaLiga. Every single game of the recent FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia was broadcast illegally in Saudi Arabia by beoutQ, making it one of the most pirated sports events in history and prompting in a unique step the governing body of world football to call for legal action in Saudi Arabia.

Despite demands from bodies across sport for Arabsat to end its support of this piracy, the Riyadh-based satellite provider has adamantly refused to do so, even though it has the ability to simply switch off beoutQ's transmissions on Arabsat satellites.

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