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Saturday, Jul 22, 2017
Dubai: Sports fans across the UAE on Saturday have something to cheer about: beIN Sports channels are back on TV.
“We would like to advise that starting 22 July 2017, the beIN package will be available to customers and normal charges will apply,” Etisalat told subscribers to its eLife TV package in message.
“The provision of the beIN package will be subject to an ongoing review,” the message added.
Du, the UAE’s only other telecoms provider, put its beIN channels back online at the same time. “beIN is back,” a customer service representative told Gulf News by phone.
Following the diplomatic crisis in early June, which saw the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi and Egypt cut ties with Qatar over alleged terror ties, beIN channels went off air in the UAE.
The beIN Sports network, which has a monopoly on the broadcast of many global sports tournaments in the Gulf, is part of Qatari-owned Al Jazeera TV network.
When the beIN channels went offline for Etisalat and Du subscribers, sports fans without a satellite and subscription had few options other than bootleg online streams to watch sports.
Some had dreaded missing out on the upcoming UK Premier League football tournament, which will kick-off on August 12.
It is not yet clear as to whether beIN’s sales booths - which had been shuttered by UAE authorities in early June - will reopen.
Paul Crompton, Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2017. All rights reserved.
Dubai: Sports fans across the UAE on Saturday have something to cheer about: beIN Sports channels are back on TV.
“We would like to advise that starting 22 July 2017, the beIN package will be available to customers and normal charges will apply,” Etisalat told subscribers to its eLife TV package in message.
“The provision of the beIN package will be subject to an ongoing review,” the message added.
Du, the UAE’s only other telecoms provider, put its beIN channels back online at the same time. “beIN is back,” a customer service representative told Gulf News by phone.
Following the diplomatic crisis in early June, which saw the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi and Egypt cut ties with Qatar over alleged terror ties, beIN channels went off air in the UAE.
The beIN Sports network, which has a monopoly on the broadcast of many global sports tournaments in the Gulf, is part of Qatari-owned Al Jazeera TV network.
When the beIN channels went offline for Etisalat and Du subscribers, sports fans without a satellite and subscription had few options other than bootleg online streams to watch sports.
Some had dreaded missing out on the upcoming UK Premier League football tournament, which will kick-off on August 12.
It is not yet clear as to whether beIN’s sales booths - which had been shuttered by UAE authorities in early June - will reopen.
Paul Crompton, Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2017. All rights reserved.
