JEDDAH – The Ministry of Information totally rejected the European Football Federation (UEFA) statement on the so-called entity beoutQ being based in Saudi Arabia while terming the statement as irresponsible.

The ministry said, “After reading the irresponsible and false accusations in a UEFA press release stating that beoutQ is headquartered in the Kingdom, we totally reject these allegations.”

The Ministry of Information, quoted by the Saudi Press Agency on Friday night, said it realizes that the beoutQ receivers are available in many countries including Qatar and Eastern Europe.

Furthermore, this irresponsible statement issued by UEFA contradicts what is going on in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where the Ministry of Commerce and Investment is tirelessly combating all the activities of beoutQ in the country.

For example, the Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Investment has confiscated thousands of receivers that could have been used in violating intellectual property rights in the Kingdom.

This confirms that the Saudi government abided by and will continue to comply with the protection of intellectual property rights in the country.

The Ministry of Information has been informed that beIN Sports is a company belonging to Al-Jazeera Information Network and it is the source of this false accusation issued by UEFA.

It is noteworthy that the Kingdom has banned the transmission of Al-Jazeera channel on its territories since June 2017. Al-Jazeera is considered to be the main Qatari media arm for supporting terrorism and inciting others to destabilize the region.

Al Jazeera provides a media platform for terrorists to propagate their violent message. The Kingdom has also banned broadcasts by beIN Sports in Saudi Arabia for the same reason.

Al Jazeera’s response to the ban was to escalate its campaign of defamation against the Kingdom. While beIN Sports’ broadcasts, too, have long been used as vehicles for offensive anti-Saudi invective, it has amplified its offensive propaganda during the World Cup 2018.

It is ironic because the World Cup is supposed to be a demonstration of how football can bring nations together in harmony.

During the World Cup, beIN has defamed the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, insulted Saudi Arabia and its fans and has politicized the World Cup platform in violation of all rules and codes of conduct.

For these reasons Al Jazeera and its subsidiary beIN, will never broadcast in Saudi Arabia. – SG/SPA