Qatar’s beIN sport renews English Premier League contract despite sole opposition 

The bitter aftertaste from the failed Saudi bid to buy Newcastle United Football Club saw the club’s owner, British retail billionaire Mike Ashley, vote against a new $500m television deal between the English Premier League and Qatar-based beIN Sports.

All of the clubs in the English top flight voted to renew the deal except Newcastle United in what is described as a futile gesture against the contract between Qatar and the Premier League. Only 14 votes are needed to approve any measure, and the beIN deal was passed by 19 to 1, reported the Financial Times.

Newcastle’s solitary dissent to the new deal, which will see money shared between the league’s 20 member clubs, comes after its proposed $445m sale to a consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, controlled by Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, collapsed earlier this year.

Though there was strong opposition to the Saudi takeover bid from human rights groups, it is thought that lobbying by beIN tipped the balance against the deal. Saudi Arabia’s involvement in beoutQ, a pirate internet network that has been streaming Premier League matches — the broadcasting rights to which the Qatari-based company owns — was the major source of contention.

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Nasser Al-Khelaifi, beIN’s owner who also runs France’s Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, was reported by the FT as saying, “This deal demonstrates that rights-holders who do the most to protect their intellectual property, also do the most to protect the value of their media rights.”

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters added, “We are pleased to agree a significant deal with beIN Sports, who are a longstanding and valued partner.”