The Competition Protection and Monopoly Prevention Authority announced the cancellation of the agreement and contract between the Egyptian Company for Satellite Channels and the Qatari beIN sports channels. It pledged to suspend the channels network in Egypt.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the authority said that the agreement is legally invalid because it encourages monopoly practices and violates article 20 of the Competition Protection law. Thus, the participants have the right to cancel their contracts and get a refund from the Qatari network.
The Authority, based on article 20 of the law, stated that in case of violation of one of the provisions of Articles 6, 7 and 8, the violator shall adjust its position and remove the violations immediately or in a timely manner determined by the Board of Directors, or else, the contract will be automatically canceled. The board, by the majority of its members, can issue a decision to suspend the practices that are proven to violate any of the provisions of Articles 6, 7 and 8, for a certain period of time, when such practices can cause serious harm to competition or the consumer. All of the above should be done without disregarding the liability that arises from such violations.
The statement added that the agency regrets the inflexibility of beIN and its refusal to implement the decisions concerning the removal of several violations committed by the company against the citizen and the Egyptian economy. These violations are still ongoing despite the decisions that has now become binding and cannot be renounced anymore due to passage of time.
The authority confirmed that it had contacted the official concerned authorities to take the necessary steps in order to implement the provisions of the Egyptian law targeting all the employees of the Qatary network inside Egypt. It also stated that it will carry on the monitoring of the network s actions and it will be resorting to all legal means to stop its work with all concerned parties. The agency is aiming to cancel the exclusive rights of the network in broadcasting sports championships, which caused major damage to the Egyptian economy and citizen
