Saudi Arabia is refusing to grant Israeli TV the rights to broadcast its soccer league as long as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in power, Channel 12 reports.
Following a massive spending spree, the Saudi league now boasts some of the world’s top stars like Ronaldo and Neymar.
But repeated Israeli requests to acquire the broadcast rights have been rebuffed, the report says.
“We rule out the possibility of broadcasting the Saudi League in Israel,” Channel 12 quotes a source close to the monarch as saying. “We will allow sale to Iran and North Korea, and not to any Israeli body. They have already submitted a request more than once and we refused, even to those who broadcast in Arabic we refused.”
The source says the reason for the refusal is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his hardline government.
“When Netanyahu is gone, we will even allow Israeli Jews and Arabs to play in Saudi Arabia, but with an extreme Netanyahu government, no and no,” the source says.
The comments come despite US efforts to broker a normalization agreement between Israel and the Saudis.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 21, 2023
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
