BeIN Sports has reminded all its reporters around the world to adopt a neutral political stance towards the escalation in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The Qatar-based broadcaster made the move following controversial comments made by one of its commentators ahead of Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.
As players took a knee at the Emirates Stadium to draw attention to the fight against discrimination, match commentator Issam Chaouali appeared to express his support for the Palestinian state after militants attacked Israel and took scores of hostages.
In his 20-second introduction to the game, which went out to Arabic-speaking countries including Palestine, he said: “They talked about strength and it was an illusion.” They talked about advanced technology and it was an illusion. And they talked about an undefeated army and it was an illusion.
“You talked about the Bar Lev border (1973 fortifications between Egypt and Israel) and that was an illusion. You spoke of a limit that cannot be crossed. Did you not understand? Don’t we understand? You are just a balloon of illusion.”
BeIN has acknowledged that the comments were inappropriate and the reporter was reminded of his responsibility to respect the company’s neutrality policy.
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Chaouali and his reporting and presenting colleagues were told that they were obligated not to make political comments and to only report on sports, regardless of their personal opinions.
“As a leading global media group, we condemn any form of conflict or violence, while championing people, causes and interests of all backgrounds, languages and cultures in the over 40 extremely diverse countries in which we operate worldwide. “Our company policies require non-political neutrality and sports-focused broadcast coverage – which is required of all of our employees,” a beIN Media Group spokesperson told The Athletic.
Before the game, Chaouali was also asked by a producer at the network to remove a Palestinian badge.
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Discussions have taken place between beIN Sports and the Premier League regarding this. A source close to the broadcaster, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect relations, said beIN was confident there had been no breach of the broadcast agreement. The Premier League did not comment.
BeIN has the right to show Premier League matches in 24 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries and Turkey until the end of the 2024/25 season, and the broadcaster has agreed in principle to extend this agreement for three years until 2028 .
The Qatar-based company also broadcasts the Premier League in an additional 15 countries, including the United States and Canada, and employs more than 3,000 people worldwide.
(Top photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
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