The Asian Football Confederation announced on Thursday that it and beIN Media Group have agreed to sign a new long-term agreement in the Middle East and North Africa region to reschedule their competition by three cycles until 2032. In an initial period from 2022 to 2024, the agreement grants the beIN Group the rights to exclusively reschedule all AFC competitions “in certain regions of the Middle East and North Africa, excluding Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Iran and Iraq.”
In the 2025-2028 and 2029-2032 cycles, beIN has exclusive rights to broadcast all AFC competitions in 17 countries in the MENA region, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iraq, as well as non-exclusive rights to Chad, Djibouti, Iran, Mauritania, Somalia and Sudan. “We are thrilled to be able to raise the profile of AFC competitions to reach millions of enthusiastic fans across the Middle East and North Africa,” said AFC General Secretary Windsor John.
For his part, Yousef Al-Obaidli, CEO of beIN Media Group, said: “This new agreement confirms that beIN is the home of sports and entertainment in the Middle East and North Africa both now and in the coming years.” Notably, the Saudi Sports Company signed an agreement with the AFC in April 2021 to acquire media rights to its competitions in Saudi Arabia between 2021 and 2024. The Asian Football Confederation decided in 2019 to move Saudi clubs’ matches in their competitions without encryption to their digital platforms in Saudi Arabia, so the BN group announced its intention to sue the “Asian” for having exclusive rights.
