saudi Arabia has denied accusations of pirating the broadcast of World Cup games for which Qatar-based beIN Sports network holds the regional rights.
Saud al-Qahtani, a senior adviser at the Saudi Royal Court, called the piracy allegations «baseless» and «unfounded».
Qahtani's comments were directed at Qatar rather than addressing FIFA's accusations, but he said the matter should be resolved by the sport's international governing bodies.
«These accusations are nothing but the latest attempt by Qatar to divert attention from their own malfeasance by pivoting discussion towards sports,» he said in comments to Reuters on Thursday.
«Qatari authorities have failed to provide any evidence at all to validate these accusations».
Qahtani said saudi Arabia did not tolerate any infringement of intellectual property rights.
«It respects the importance of protecting intellectual rights and abiding by international conventions in this regard», he said.
«The saudi authorities will continue their efforts to combat piracy and protect intellectual property and broadcasting rights».
He said the government had recently confiscated about 12,000 pirating devices from the market.
Saud al-Qahtani, a senior adviser at the Saudi Royal Court, called the piracy allegations «baseless» and «unfounded».
Qahtani's comments were directed at Qatar rather than addressing FIFA's accusations, but he said the matter should be resolved by the sport's international governing bodies.
«These accusations are nothing but the latest attempt by Qatar to divert attention from their own malfeasance by pivoting discussion towards sports,» he said in comments to Reuters on Thursday.
«Qatari authorities have failed to provide any evidence at all to validate these accusations».
Qahtani said saudi Arabia did not tolerate any infringement of intellectual property rights.
«It respects the importance of protecting intellectual rights and abiding by international conventions in this regard», he said.
«The saudi authorities will continue their efforts to combat piracy and protect intellectual property and broadcasting rights».
He said the government had recently confiscated about 12,000 pirating devices from the market.