Qatari pay-TV broadcaster BeIN Sports have secured the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) rights for the 2022 edition of the Asian Champions League, which kicked off on Thursday (Friday 3:15 am AEST) when Iran’s Foolad FC met Al-Gharafa of Qatar in Jeddah.
It means the performances of Sydney FC and Melbourne City will be available to enjoy, or scrutinise, by audiences in fourteen MENA countries, including those in AFC member nations Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Syria and Yemen.
The deal between the Asian Football Confederation and BeIN follows an agreement reached last month that saw BeIN broadcast the final two matchdays of the AFC’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers. In addition to the Champions League, the new deal includes rights to the AFC’s second-tier cup competition, the AFC Cup, which has prompted BeIN to launch four additional AFC-dedicated channels on its service.
The fact that the AFC and BeIN are now willing and frequent commercial partners again is considerable, after their near-decade long partnership broke down in 2019 when the AFC cancelled BeIN’s rights to broadcast into Saudi Arabia.
That action came against the backdrop of BeIN’s battle against Saudi pirate broadcaster BeoutQ, which was accused of stealing BeIN content including the English Premier League and the 2019 Asian Cup, and broadcasting it in Saudi Arabia.
AFC general secretary Datuk Seri Windsor John and the AFC are pleased to have finalised the deal.
“We are pleased to announce this partnership with BeIN, which will bring the AFC’s world-class competitions to more nations across the MENA region, including nine AFC member associations,” he said.
“The MENA region is home to some of the most passionate fans of Asian football and it is essential that we provide them with unparalleled access to further solidify the AFC’s ambitions of confirming football as the number one sport in the continent.”
The Australian rights for the next three editions of the tournament were secured by the Australian Professional Leagues in February, and will be broadcast via their partnership with 10ViacomCBS. The Australian package also includes rights to the AFC Cup and AFC Futsal Club Championship Finals. Matches will be shown on Network 10, 10 Bold and Paramount Plus.
Melbourne City kick off their maiden Champions League campaign on Friday, April 15 against BG Pathum United of Thailand. Their group also features United City (Philippines) and Jeonnam Dragons (South Korea).
Sydney FC open their campaign against South Korea’s Jeonbuk Motors on Sunday, April 17, and will meet Hoang Anh Gia Lia (Vietnam) and Kevin Muscat’s Yokohama F. Marinos (Japan).