BeIN Sports referred to court over monopoly practices

CAIRO – 17 August 2017: The General Prosecution referred BeIN sports monopoly cases to the Cairo Economist Court on charges of monopoly practices, the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) presided by Mona Garf announced in a statement on Wednesday.

In January, The Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) decided to refer the CAF’s then-President Issa Hyatou to be brought before the General Prosecution, accusing him of infringing the Protection of Competition Act and misusing his position to conduct monopoly practices.

The Qatari-based French-owned Lagardère Sports Agency was granted exclusive rights to broadcast the main African football competitions for the region from 2017 through to 2028 in an agreement signed with the CAF on June 15, 2015, raising questions over the transparency of the bidding process.

The ECA commission found that the CAF committed violations of the regulations of fair competition and transparency between competitors instead of allowing them to win the broadcasting rights through a public auction.

The CAF had previously given the same rights to Lagardère Sports in 2009 until 2016, which means the agency has had sole broadcasting rights for 20 years.

Garf confirmed in press remarks that the ECA decided to proceed with the legal action following a number of complaints delivered by the broadcasting company owners stating that the CAF refused their requests to do business.