According to The Athletic, the Saudi Ministry of Media prevented a Qatar-owned streaming platform from broadcasting FIFA World Cup matches during the tournament’s first week. This has brought relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia back into the spotlight.
The broadcast rights for the World Cup in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are owned by the Qatari company BeIN Sports, which is run by Nasser Al-Khelaifi, chairman of Paris Saint-Germain.
The games in the region are broadcast in all 24 of the MENA countries on a streaming platform called TOD TV, with 22 free-to-air games. The remaining 42 games are broadcast in the region.
The New York Times first reported on Friday that beIN executives learned that their streaming platform had been blocked in Saudi Arabia just over an hour before the tournament started.
This was despite the fact that Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Qatari ruling Emir, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) were only two seats apart.
Because it was one of the free-to-air matches, Saudi Arabia’s historic 2-1 victory over Argentina on Tuesday could still be watched by Saudis. Poland’s match on Saturday will also be shown free rather than on the subscription platform.
Despite this, Saudis are unable to watch many World Cup games at the moment, which seems odd for a nation that declared a national holiday after their first match’s victory over Argentina.
