By Andrew Warshaw
June 15 – With the resumption of the Premier League 48 hours away, the £300 million takeover of Newcastle United by an investment consortium fronted by Saudi Arabia’s controversial Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman remains very much in the balance pending an imminent ruling on whether Saudi Arabia has been guilty of broadcast piracy.
The head of the World Trade Organisation implied at the weekend that a decision is just around the corner and warned that the illegal streaming of sports events is regarded as a “very serious” breach of international rules.
A 130-page WTO report has apparently already been sent to the Premier League, which is considering whether to approve the takeover of one of English football’s most fanatically supported sleeping giants by a consortium involving the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), the billionaire British-based property developers Reuben brothers plus financier Amanda Staveley who brokered the deal.
The Saudis are accused of illegally transmitting Premier League matches via Saudi-backed pirate broadcaster beoutQ even though the rights in the Middle East and North Africa are the property of beIN Sports, owned by Saudi’s regional rival Qatar.
“I can’t tell you exactly when, but it’s going to come,” WTO’s director-general, Roberto Azevedo, said when asked in a BBC television interview Sunday when a firm ruling might be forthcoming.
“The dispute is still ongoing, it’s still under confidential procedures and therefore I cannot comment at all on the subject,” he added before disclosing how serious the principle of illegal streaming is to his organisation.
“Well, very serious. I think our agreement on intellectual property rights is very clear, that those are fundamental rights as far as the functioning of the global economy is concerned.”
Illegal broadcasts by beoutQ are reported to have cost football’s governing bodies huge sums in TV fees in what was already a disrupted broadcast market for sports rights. The ruling by the WTO could potentially deal a serious blow to PIF taking an 80% stake in the club since all new takeovers are subject to the Premier League’s owners and directors test to ascertain past history, governance record and suitability.
“These rules have been put in place not by accident,” Azevedo said. “They have been put in place because they are to be observed and I think our members recognise that.”
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