Fans living in the Middle East and North Africa enjoy coverage from the Qatari broadcaster at no cost
Qatari pay-TV network and FIFA broadcast partner for the MENA region, BeIN Sports, has been showing World Cup 2022 matches completely free throughout the tournament.
In total, BeIN Sports will air 22 matches at no cost for people living in the Middle East and North Africa, having started their free coverage with the tournament's opening game between hosts Qatar and Ecuador.
The pay-TV giant will go on to show more games as the tournament continues, while the majority will remain behind a subscription paywall. In total, 64 matches will be played out throughout the tournament with more than a third of them made available to fans for free.
The MENA region is made up of 24 countries from the Middle East and North Africa, and represents the largest market for the Qatari broadcaster.
BeIN Sports’ MENA Chief Executive, Mohammed Al-Subaie, had this to say on the offering:
“This is a celebration of a World Cup in and for the Arab world. We are thrilled to be able to offer key matches free-to-air to the region’s passionate football fans."
“When we first became official broadcaster of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, our mission was to pursue every opportunity to open up access to the tournament to the multitude of fans in this region."
“We remain committed to making our content widely available and we know how significant and unifying this tournament is for us all.”
It's been an eventful tournament on and off the pitch so far. The Qatari state has received a lot of criticism for its handling of various issues before and during the World Cup, including the reported poor treatment of migrant workers building stadiums and the government's approach to various social and cultural questions.
On the pitch, this has been widely received as one of the best group stages to a World Cup in history. There have been shocking upsets with Saudi Arabia defeating Argentina, Japan beating Germany, and Tunisia besting reigning world champions France. There have been goals galore, a tonne of added time and drama and narrative everywhere.
Fans in the MENA region will be happy to know they can keep track of plenty of this action completely free with BeIN Sports.
Stick around for more football news, and don't forget to check out our very own free football live streams - we provide coverage of some of the biggest competitions in the world, including La Liga, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
