Yousef Al-Obaidly

Al-Obaidly was born in Doha, Qatar, where he spent his formative years, before studying in the US and graduating from Seattle University.[5]

After leaving university, Al-Obaidly played professional tennis and represented Qatar in the Davis Cup.[6]

In 2003, Al-Obaidly played a role in the launch of Al Jazeera Sport, which would later transform into beIN Sports.[7]

In 2012 he was responsible for the roll-out of beIN Sports in France and other territories including the Americas and Asia-Pacific.[8][9]

He was promoted to the position of chief executive in 2018[10] and since his appointment as CEO, Al-Obaidly has been involved in media rights acquisitions for the FIFA Women's World Cup,[11] FIFA Club World Cup,[12] UEFA Euro 2020[13] and UEFA Champions League[14] Al-Obaidly has however warned that media rights bubble is about to burst.[15] Al-Obaidly has also spearheaded distribution and sub-licensing deals with Canal+,[16] co-production deals with the BBC,[17] and hired football figures such as Jose Mourinho[18] and Arsene Wenger[19]to perform punditry for beIN. Al-Obaidly is also the CEO of Digiturk, the leading pay-TV operator in Turkey.[20]

Al-Obaidly is a prominent figure in the fight against piracy and the protection of media rights.[7] He has been particularly vocal about the threat posed by Saudi Arabia-backed piracy operation BeoutQ.[21] and has called for Saudi Arabia to uphold the rule of law.[22]

During his keynote speech at the 2019 Leaders Week Sports Business Summit in London, he warned that football was in significant financial danger due to piracy.[23]

In an interview with The Telegraph in 2019, Al-Obaidly described beoutQ's ongoing piracy as "…without doubt – one of the largest and most damaging heists in corporate history."[24] He has specifically warned that piracy threatens Britain's thriving creative industries.[25]

In April 2020, Al-Obaidly wrote to English Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters and the chairs of all 20 Premier League clubs to protest against the takeover of Newcastle United by a Saudi-Arabian backed consortium. In the letter he again offered a warning about football finances and accused the Saudi Arabian government of stealing the Premier League's commercial rights and member club's commercial revenues due to its alleged backing of beoutQ.[26][27]

In 2019, a leaked report in Le Monde suggested that Al-Obaidly was under judicial investigation in France.[28] However, it was later clarified that Al-Obaidly voluntarily attended an appointed meeting as part of a preliminary investigation[29] and denied allegations against him.[30]

Al-Obaidly holds a number of board positions including at Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, Paris Saint-Germain Handball, Qatar Sports Investments, Qatar Tennis Federation and Qatar Satellite Company Es'hailSat.[7]

In March 2020 he joined the board of Qatar based telecoms company Ooredoo.[31]