LaLiga: Saudis bidding for Newcastle are 'stealing football'

The president of the Spanish league wants the Premier League to consider the “damage” that Saudi Arabia's pirating of broadcasts has caused the sport before it decides whether to approve a takeover of Newcastle by the country's sovereign wealth fund.

In a statement to The Associated Press, La Liga President Javier Tebas said the Saudis are trying to buy an English topflight club while “stealing football” through the beoutQ service that is undermining the sport's finances.

The Premier League has been part of a joint push by global soccer competitions, including La Liga, in trying to shut down beoutQ's pirated broadcasts of games. They both lodged protests with the American government which led last month to Saudi Arabia remaining on a “Priority Watch List" as one of the “notorious markets for counterfeiting and piracy.”

Human rights activists have also put pressure on the Premier League to consider stopping the Saudi sovereign wealth fund becoming the majority owner of Newcastle. The Premier League has not commented on the progress of the process for approving the takeover even as objections to the deal have grown.

“European football rights – including Newcastle rights – have been stolen systematically by BeoutQ for three years,” Tebas told the AP. “Now the Saudis want a seat at the top table — forgetting the damage they have done through BeoutQ. If football leagues and clubs do not protect their intellectual property, they have nothing. LaLiga couldn’t be clearer about this — stealing the football broadcast is stealing football.”

The bootlegging of sports broadcasts is a proxy in a wider Gulf diplomatic and economic boycott of Qatar, which owns Premier League and La Liga rights through the beIN Sports network that is banned from operating in Saudi Arabia.

La Liga and the Premier...