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Tribune News Network
Doha
FIFA on Friday threatened to take legal action against BeoutQ, which is widely available in Saudi Arabia, for illegally broadcasting the opening games of the World Cup.
Football's governing body released a statement after Arabsat, in which Saudi Arabia is the largest shareholder, ignored warnings to stop its broadcast of the first two matches.
Qatari-based beIN Sports network is the only rights holder for the 2018 World Cup in the Middle East and North Africa.
In a statement on Friday, FIFA said,"FIFA is aware that a pirate channel named BeoutQ has illegally distributed the opening matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region."
"FIFA takes infringements of its intellectual property very seriously and is exploring all options to stop the infringement of its rights, including in relation to action against legitimate organisations that are seen to support such illegal activities. We refute that BeoutQ has received any rights from FIFA to broadcast any FIFA event," it said.
