beIN MEDIA GROUP ("beIN”), and its flagship sports channel beIN SPORTS, has announced live coverage of the knockout rounds for the Western half of the 2022 Asian Champions League from 19 to 26 February taking place in Qatar. With a jam-packed programme of more than 20 hours of coverage, football fans across 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) can tune in to watch eight teams compete for a place in the final to face Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds.
beIN SPORTS AFC, the dedicated channel for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) tournaments, will broadcast all scheduled matches with live on-site studio coverage one hour prior to the opening whistle of each match. Studio discussions will be led by Mohammed Saadon Al Kuwari, Tariq Al Hammad and Meshari Al Khuzaim, who will be joined by several analysts including former Saudi national team captain Yasser Al Qahtani and former Qatari football professionals Mubarak Mustafa and Ibrahim Khalfan.
Additionally, each game will have a pitch side reporter, an outside reporter, and an on-site commentator, guaranteeing viewers an unrivalled match experience.
Coverage of the round of 16 will kickstart on 19 February with the match between Qatari rivals Al Duhail and Al Rayyan at Al Thumama Stadium at 17:00 MECCA. The channel will then broadcast Saudi’s Al Shabab taking on Uzbekistan’s FC Nasaf at Al Janoub Stadium that same day at 20:00 MECCA.
The next day (20 February), beIN’s coverage also starts at 17:00 MECCA with Iran’s Foolad FC competing against Saudi’s Al-Faisaly club, followed by coverage of Saudi’s defending champions Al Hilal face off against Shabab Al Ahli Dubai of the United Arab Emirates at 20:00 MECCA.
Coverage of the quarter finals on 23 February will follow a similar pattern, before the semi-final on 26 February, when the remaining two West Asian clubs competing will wrap up the knockout stage broadcast schedule.
beIN will show Asian Champions League matches exclusively in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen and non-exclusively in Chad, Djibouti, Mauritania, Somalia, and Sudan. The coverage forms part of beIN and AFC’s landmark long-term deal in the MENA region to cover AFC competitions over three cycles through to 2032.