- According to DW news, the streaming service of the ongoing FIFA Football World Cup in Qatar has been blocked in Saudi Arabia
According to users, it seems that the official streaming platform of the World Cup has been blocked in Saudi Arabia without any explanation.
The platform, Todd TV, owned by Qatari broadcaster beIN Media Group, was banned in Saudi Arabia for several years during the conflict between the two countries, but was reinstated in October 2021.
“Due to matters beyond our control, we are experiencing an outage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is currently the official streaming partner of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, TOD,” beIN said in a message to partners and subscribers. affecting tv. Additional information will be provided as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, the Saudi government did not respond to a request for comment on the disruption to the World Cup’s official streaming platform, while BN declined to comment.
Tod TV is the official World Cup streaming service in 24 countries across the Middle East and North Africa
Consumer complaints
Several users in Saudi Arabia told AFP today (Saturday, November 26) that they have been unable to access the service since the start of the World Cup on November 20. One said the service went down completely about an hour before the inauguration ceremony aired.
Another user said that the service still does not continue to broadcast for short duration ie more than ten minutes. The “error message” that appears in the meantime appears to read, “Sorry: The requested page is in violation of Ministry of Media regulations.”
“I want my money back,” said one subscriber. It costs about 300 Saudi Riyals (about $80) per month. I have been trying to get my money back for several months now without success
beIN is broadcasting 22 World Cup matches in Saudi Arabia for free, including an opportunity to watch the Saudi Green Falcons perform. The Saudi football team stunned the world last Tuesday by defeating Argentina by two goals to one and the Saudi football team will face Poland this Saturday afternoon.
Saudi crown prince’s disagreement with Qatar
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, 37-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, launched a regional boycott of Qatar in June 2017. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt cut ties with Doha over accusations that it supports extremists and is too close to arch-rival Iran.
The beIN media group was banned in Saudi Arabia during MBS’ boycott of Qatar, but Riyadh announced last October that it was lifting the ban. The move paves the way for Riyadh to acquire England’s Newcastle United football club through a Saudi-backed consortium.
