Saudi plans action against BeIN Sports

Saudi Arabia’s chairman of the Saudi General Sports Authority, Turki Al Shaikh, announced on his official Twitter account that the kingdom will take “necessary legal action” against BeIN Sports. “Necessary legal action will be taken in relation to BeIN wrongdoings against KSA, its sports & officials, and for exploiting sports to achieve political goals. This proves Saudi authorities’ true stance when banning this network from airing on its soil,” Al Shaikh was quoted by Al Arabiya.

Several social media users shared videos of the Saudi Arabia versus Russia world cup match on Thursday, stating that the BeIN channel’s commentating and broadcast of the match were very one-sided, favouring Russia over Saudi Arabia. Following the match which ended with Saudi Arabia losing 5-0 against its Russian opponent, Al Shaikh took to Twitter sharing a video where he said he took full responsibility for the loss. “I take full responsibility for this score in front of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and sports fans. We paid all their (the players) dues, and they came to the game without exerting even five per cent of the effort needed,” Al Shaikh said