The Gulf diplomatic crisis has spilled over to sports as beIN Sports and Al Jazeera’s broadcasts of major football games and news in the UAE are now blocked while their websites are no longer accessible.
beIN is the exclusive broadcasters of English Premier League and La Liga (Spain) games as well as the World Cup.
Subscribers said the channel was off the air since Monday, when the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt governments announced they were severing diplomatic relations with Qatar over the latter’s alleged support for Iran and terrorist groups.
UAE mobile and internet service provider Du confirmed in a statement it has suspended airing of beIN Sports programs. Competitor Etisalat has no comment yet but its contact center is being swamped with calls by customers who want to end their subscription for the sports channel.
The four Gulf countries also closed their seaports and airports to Qatar-flagged ships and commercial planes effectively putting up an economic blockade against the neighboring state.
photo credit: Ayonix Corp.
