Renad Ghanem

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Football fans are counting down to the start of the World Cup in Brazil that kicks off on June 12, but they are not happy with how much money they will have to fork out to watch the tournament.



Many people consider the SR1,500 annual fee charged by beIN sports to watch the World Cup too high.



Since the 2002 World Cup, football’s governing body FIFA has issued exclusivity rights for broadcasting, meaning viewers in the Middle East are not allowed to watch the competition unless they buy a subscription to the exclusive broadcaster for the region.



Many football fans with low incomes interviewed in this report said they have saved up since the beginning of this year to pay for the subscription. For others, the cost did not matter as the World Cup is considered worth watching and only comes around once every four years.



Many other fans interviewed in this report said they had to share the cost of subscription with their neighbors and friends.



To them, it is worth turning rooms inside their homes into a miniature football stadium than bear the cost alone.



Others interviewed in this report who did not want to pay the subscription cost said they would watch their important matches inside coffee shops. Ali Al-Khamisy, a Saudi man who has a beIN subscription, decided to split the cost of watching the World Cup with two of his neighbors. They will link matches through wires from his devices into their televisions.



Al-Khamisy said: “It’s too sad that we have to pay a lot of money to watch World Cup.



“To me, the price is unreasonable and I have other important financial commitments. However, if I divided the cost with my friends, it will be reasonable.”



Ali added that broadcasting exclusivity rights makes it harder for limited and low income fans, which constitute the majority of football lovers, to watch the World Cup.



He said: “I was forced to subscribe for a year and the cost for the subscription was high. BeIN should have made an option to just watch the World Cup.”



Ibraheem Al-Ali, a Saudi middle level employee, decided to share the cost of the World Cup subscription with his friends in the neighborhood. He, however, decided to turn his home into a World Cup cafe club for his friends who paid for the subscription.



The agreement is that his home will be open 15 minutes before the start of matches until the end of the last match. He said: “The World Cup is one of the most important events for me and I wait for it every four years.



“I do not exaggerate when I say that it is the most important event in my life. I avoid any distractions during the matches.



“My family is instructed not to contact me during the matches. It is to that level.”



Al-Ali added that he and his friends chipped in to buy an LCD television and designated a room in his house for his friends.



He said: “My friends are football fanatics. They usually wear the T-shirts of their favorite teams and they bring flags to cheer on their favorite teams as if they are in a stadium.



“I made a deal with my friends who did not subscribe with us and are coming to watch the matches at my home that they can watch for free every night if one of them buys food and coffee and tea for all of us.”



Ahmed Hakim, an Egyptian who lives in Jeddah, said he would pay anything to watch the World Cup.



Hakim said: “I subscribed to beIN and bought the device. I would pay any cost to watch the World Cup, I don’t care how much it is.



“I know some of my friends who are less fortunate could not afford the subscription, so I will invite them to watch the matches at my home for free.



“I understand their condition because they are underpaid and have other important family expenses.”



He said that a friend offered to share the cost of the subscription. “I decided to get my own subscription so I would be able to watch the matches at any time.



“Some of my friends asked to share the cost with me as long as they can watch the games in my home, but I refused.”