An investigation financed by FIFA, two of its confederations and a group of top European soccer leagues has concluded “without question” that a Saudi Arabia-backed satellite provider has played a vital role in a piracy operation that has stolen and aired hundreds of soccer matches and other sporting events whose rights were purchased by the Qatar-owned broadcaster beIN Sports.
The report, conducted by MarkMonitor, a brand protection company based in San Francisco, and released on Monday, supports the conclusions of earlier investigations paid for by Qatar’s beIN Media Group, one of the world’s biggest purchasers of broadcast rights.