Dubai: English football fans in the UAE will have to wait and see if they are able to watch the games live this weekend following last week’s start to the season for beIN Sports subscribers.
The Qatar-owned sports network did not show a number of English Premier League (EPL) games last weekend as part of its on going campaign to crack down on pirated broadcasts overseas. The network has the sole rights to broadcast EPL games in the Middle East and North Africa and advertises on its website that it shows all the games “live and exclusive”.
beIN Sports has so not responded to a number of comment requests by Gulf News asking when normal, advertised services will resume. However, a call centre employee told Gulf News earlier this week that beIN Sports may restrict the number of broadcasted games for the entire 2014/2015 season.
Online subscribers to beIN Sports Connect service paying around Dh500 a year were reportedly offered a month’s free subscription (valued at around Dh40) this week in an email from the network as compensation for the limited opening round coverage. However, Gulf News has confirmed with at least one subscriber that no such email was received suggesting the email-out was selective.
Restrictions
The network first started restricting the number of live games shown in the Middle East and North Africa in the 2013/2014 season last November in a bid to crack down on the pirated broadcasts.
The restrictions first applied to games shown at 3pm UK time on Saturday as they are not broadcast in Britain.
However, Monday’s Round 1 Burnley vs Chelsea was also not shown on beIN Sports Connect service this week “due to rights restrictions”.
The network’s anchor Richard Keys tweeted on Monday that the game was being shown, however, having been tweeted an image of the blocked channel he responded, “Thanks. Good info.”
Premier league fans were, however, able to access a free pirated broadcast online from a United States network to watch Monday night’s game.
