Saudi Arabia permanently cancels licence of beIN Sports

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition (GAC) has announced that it had permanently cancelled the licence of Qatari broadcaster, beIN Sports, as the channel has already been barred from broadcasting since mid-2017.

The Saudi Arabian competition authority said in a statement on its website that a fine of SR10 million was also imposed on beIN Sports for violations of the provisions of the Competition Law through its involvement in monopolistic practices.

The GAC said it found beIN Sports had abused its dominant position through several monopolistic practices related to what it described as an exclusive sports broadcast bundle for the 2016 UEFA European Championship soccer matches, reported Saudi Gazette on Tuesday.

The GAC clarified that the decision is based on the tasks and competencies assigned to it in protecting and encouraging fair competition and combating monopolistic practices, as well as to achieve the principle of transparency.

The action was taken against Qatar’s sports channel after conducting investigations into complaints against the channel which concluded that beIN Sports had found involved in several monopolistic practices, harming the right of those wishing to watch the exclusive broadcast of the UEFA Championship.

The authority identified several violations, including forcing those, who wish to subscribe to watch the package, to subscribe to another package that includes non-sports channels; and forcing those wishing to subscribe to renew their subscription to their basic package for another full year, as a condition for viewing the Euro 2016 tournament, although their subscription period is valid and covers the period during which the said tournament was held, said the Saudi media report.

The beIN Sports also included the costs of tournaments and sports that the subscribers may not want to follow in the value of subscription in the sports channels themselves and thus the subscribers are forced to bear additional costs within the value of the subscription, read the statement.

According to the GAC, this is an explicit violation of the Competition Law and its executive regulations, and, accordingly, the authority’s board of directors has taken the necessary measures to stop the practices and eliminate monopolistic violations committed by beIN Sports channel group, and this is with calculating the highest amount of fine stipulated in the Competition Law on a daily basis in order to ensure the speedy removal of the damage caused to the beneficiaries of its services in the Kingdom.

However, beIN Sports channels failed to implement the provisions of the punitive measures taken and challenged this decision before the Administrative Court in Riyadh.

The court rejected the lawsuit filed by beIN Sports against the GAC. Eventually, the authority’s board of directors decided to lodge a criminal suit with the committee to examine and adjudicate violations of the provisions of the Competition Law against beIN Sport.

The GAC called on all the concerned authorities and the private sector to contribute to promoting legitimate competition in the market for broadcasting and transmitting sports tournaments and encouraging consumer choices in a way that supports the growth of the sports media industry and raises its efficiency within the framework of justice and transparency.