Saudi Arabia’s chairman of the Saudi General Sports Authority, Turki al-Sheikh, announced on his official Twitter account that the kingdom will take “necessary legal action” against BeIN Sports.

“Necessary legal action will be taken in relation to BeIN wrongdoings against K.S.A, its sports & officials, and for exploiting sports to achieve political goals. This proves Saudi authorities' true stance when banning this network from airing on its soil,” al-Sheikh said.

Necessary legal action will be taken in relation to BeIN wrongdoings against K.S.A, its sports & officials, and for exploiting sports to achieve political goals. This proves Saudi authorities' true stance when banning this network from airing on its soil. @fifacom_ar @FIFAcom — تركي آل الشيخ (@Turki_alalshikh) June 15, 2018

Several social media users shared videos of the Saudi Arabia versus Russia world cup match on Thursday, stating that the BeIN channel’s commentating and broadcast of the match were very one-sided, favoring Russia over Saudi Arabia.

Following the match which ended with Saudi Arabia losing 5-0 against its Russian opponent, al-Sheikh took to Twitter sharing a video where he said he took full responsibility for the loss.

“I take full responsibility for this score infront of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and sports fans. We paid all their (the players) dues, and they came to the game without exerting even five percent of the effort needed,” al-Sheikh said.

Last Update: Wednesday, 20 May 2020 KSA 09:57 - GMT 06:57