A fine $22.7 million levied against beIN sports and its chair Nasser al-Khalaifi has been upheld by the Cairo Economic Court.
The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) said the Qatari company had abused its position when transmitting its coverage of the main African football competitions. Rather than transmit the coverage on Egypt’s Nilesat satellite, viewers were required to point their dishes at Qatar’s Suhail Sat satellite.
ECA accused beIN of causing a direct economic loss to Nilesat. There was also concern over the bundling of the sports channels – a common practice in pay-TV across the world – rather than selling individual tournaments.
Previously, beIN Media Group said the judgment was “based on unfounded and politically motivated allegations that have no basis in fact or law”.
