By Andrew Warshaw
April 22 – In a highly unusual move, the English Premier League has been urged by one of its major broadcast partners as well as one of the world’s leading human rights organisations to consider blocking a Saudi-backed consortium’s bid to buy Newcastle United.
The top-flight club, one of the English game’s biggest sleeping giants, are reportedly on the verge, after several false dawns, of being sold to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in a £300 million takeover alongside wealthy British-based Reuben brothers and financier Amanda Staveley in a deal brokered by Staveley.
However, Qatar-based broadcaster beIN Sports says Saudi Arabia should be held to account for the theft of broadcast rights and the illegal transmission of Premier League matches by Saudi-backed pirate broadcaster beoutQ. PIF is overseen by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman .
Yousef Al-Obaidly, chief executive of beIN, has written to all Premier League clubs saying “the potential acquirer of Newcastle United (has) caused huge damage to your club and the Premier League’s commercial revenues through its backing of the huge-scale beoutQ pirate service”.
Al-Obaidly, who is on the board of Paris Saint-Germain, added: “The legacy of the illegal service will continue to impact you going forward.”
“Given the crippling economic effect that coronavirus is having on the sports industry, this is all happening at a time when football clubs need to protect their broadcast revenue the most. It is no exaggeration to say that the future economic model of football is at stake.”
beoutQ first began streaming sporting events illegally in 2017 despite repeated attempts by governing bodies and rights holders to stop it. While the beoutQ pirate signals are not currently broadcast via satellite, they are still broadcast via IPTV to settop boxes that beIN Media Group have pointed out are proliferating around the world and not just in Saudi Arabia.
Last July, the Premier League said it had spoken to nine law firms in Saudi Arabia who either refused to act or later recused themselves when asked about pursuing a copyright complaint against beoutQ.
beIN Media Group, who are the largest buyer of sports rights in the world, have made it clear that their request will not change what one insider described as “the hugely positive relationship between beIN and the Premier League”, recognising that the Premier League has been a leader within sports body in trying to end the Saudi piracy.
In a letter to Premier League chief executive Richard Masters, Al-Obaidly urges the league to apply its Owners’ and Directors’ Test, taking into account the “direct role of Saudi Arabia in the launch, promotion and operation of the BeoutQ service” and “the challenge the Premier League itself has faced and will continue to face in taking any action to protect its own intellectual property rights in the country”.
He told Masters that as a “huge investor in the Premier League, we urge you to consider carefully all the implications” of allowing the takeover of Newcastle.
“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.”
“To the extent the reports about the acquisition of NUFC are correct, we consider it essential for the Premier League to fully investigate the potential acquirer of the club”
Saudi Arabia has long been accused of ‘sportswashing’, a term used to describe countries which try to improve their international reputation by investing in major teams or hosting major sporting events.
beIN’s intervention coincided with concerns raised by Amnesty International which also wrote to Masters warning the takeover could be used by Saudi Arabia to cover up “actions that are deeply immoral”, not least its human rights record.
“So long as these questions remain unaddressed, the Premier League is putting itself at risk of becoming a patsy of those who want to use the glamour and prestige of Premier League football to cover up actions that are deeply immoral, in breach of international law and at odds with the values of the Premier League and the global footballing community,” Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen wrote.
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