Saudi Arabia’s latest decision to ban sports broadcasters beIN Sports from the country has caused a bit of a stir as their public investment fund attempt to purchase Newcastle United from Mike Ashley.
And talkSPORT’s Middle Eastern correspondent, Ben Jacobs, believes the move isn’t going to help matters whatsoever, going as far as calling it “astonishing”.
He delivered the claim to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, where he said:
My understanding is beIN see the move as 'unlawful' & only learnt about the decision via the media. If approval for #NUFC takeover hangs on Saudi Arabia's response to piracy & the recent WTO report, then shutting down the official MENA PL broadcaster isn't going to help matters.
— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) July 14, 2020
This effectively means that there is no legal way to watch the Premier League in Saudi Arabia as beIN are the only licensed broadcaster in the MENA region.
Given that the Premier League have had major concerns about piracy problems, this move seems a baffling one to make – unless the country plan on launching a bid of their own to secure TV rights.
It comes several weeks after the kingdom pledged to combat pirate streaming services such as beoutQ in the region, which only adds further perplexity to this latest decision.
Are you even excited about a takeover anymore?
Yes, of course!
No, not at all!
Jacobs’ claim is far from encouraging too as he believes that it could be detrimental to the takeover should it hinge on Saudi’s response to piracy – shutting down the only official means of watching the top-flight seems rather counterintuitive.
We’re now four months on from the start of this saga and once again, a new twist has risen doubt on it happening. All we can really do is continue to await news from the PL.