Qatar’s BeIN loses legal battle against Saudi Selevision

Qatar’s beIN Media Group has lost its case against Saudi firm Selevision on Thursday and will pay over seven million dollars in compensation, according to the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) courts.

The Court of First Instance at the DIFC Courts rejected the suit against Selevision, which specializes in the provision of digital entertainment services.

The court ruled that beIN has to pay compensation worth over $7 million and a cost of more than $600,000, totaling over SR30 million, in addition to interest at an annual rate of 8 percent.

The judge issued the directive for beIN to pay the compensation within 30 days and annulled media group's plea to overturn the judgment.

The beIN Media Group approached the court with an appeal, pleading to revoke the final arbitration award issued by the London International Court of Arbitration at the DIFC in favor of Selevision for an amount of $7,356,01.22, in addition to costs of $692,002.66.

Qatar’s beIN approached the court on the grounds that the award should be overturned as it contradicts the UAE’s public policy in respect of legal fees and that the procedure was not in line with the agreement signed between the two parties.

On the other hand, Selevision sought compensation from beIN for breaching the contract in matters related to the promotion and sale of products to commercial users and residents in Saudi Arabia.

In mid-June, BeIN also lost a case to the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat) in a French court, after the media group's claims that the satellite allowed broadcasting of the BeoutQ piracy.