ZURICH: At the end of their collective tether literally and figuratively, world football’s major governing bodies have come together in a united front to condemn Saudi Arabian pirate entity beoutQ, which has been operating with impunity due to the unequivocal support provided by the absolute monarchy’s de-facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman.
The following joint statement (which failed to mention Saudi Arabia by name) was issued Tuesday on behalf of world football’s governing body FIFA, European governing body Uefa and the Asian Football Confederation, as well as the English Premier League, Spain’s LaLiga and the German Football League (Bundesliga):
“Collectively, we, as rights-holders in various football competitions, condemn the pirate entity beoutQ, which continues to abuse the operations of rights holders and legitimate broadcasters through its persistent and illegal screening of events for which it has made no effort to secure the rights; the latest example of which is the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.
“The activities of beoutQ are a clear and flagrant breach of our intellectual property rights. beoutQ’s piracy harms not only us, as rights holders, but also our legitimate licensees (in this specific case Qatar’s beIN Sports) and, ultimately, the fans of our competitions. Money raised from the sale of TV rights helps us to support the participants, as well as to develop and grow the sports of which we are guardians from the grassroots up. Piracy kills that investment.
“We will work closely with partners and relevant authorities to enforce and uphold our intellectual property rights and put an end to this widespread piracy issue for everyone’s benefit.”
