LONDON • The proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Qatar has spilled over into the English Premier League, with a Qatari broadcast company seeking to block a Saudi Arabia-backed takeover of Newcastle United.

BeIN Media Group, the rights holder for Premier League games shown in the Middle East, has sent a letter to all 20 teams in the league and another to its chief executive, discouraging them from allowing any sale to go through.

The group has accused Saudi Arabia of backing a multi-billion dollar piracy operation undermining its valuable television rights by siphoning off its broadcast signals.

The two wealthy countries are locked in a range of political and economic disputes after relations between them soured in 2017.

The letters, signed by beIN's chief executive, Yousef Al-Obaidly, could turn the Premier League into yet another battleground for the countries.

The piracy operation, known as beoutQ, which independent investigators have tied to Saudi Arabia, is the largest in sports history, with the biggest athletic events around the world targeted, most of which were sold to beIN, the world's largest buyer of sports rights.

Under the operation, beIN's broadcasts were transmitted via Arabsat, a regional satellite operator in which Saudi Arabia is the biggest investor, and the beIN feed was identified with a beoutQ logo.

"Why is this important? Not only has the potential acquirer of Newcastle United caused huge damage to your club's and the Premier League's commercial revenues, but the legacy of the illegal service will continue to impact you going forward," Al-Obaidly wrote in the letter to the clubs.

"When the Premier League season recommences in the coming months, all of the league's broadcasters' content will continue to be readily and illegally available."

Piracy has been a big concern to rights holders, including the Premier League, which opened its first international office in Singapore last year with the aim of combating illegal content and protecting its copyrights.

According to London-based Digital TV Research, online TV and movie piracy will cost the industry an estimated US$51.6 billion (S$73.6 billion) in global revenue by 2022.

In September, an investigation financed by Fifa, two of its confederations and a group of top European football leagues concluded "without question" that Arabsat had played a vital role in the piracy operation. Efforts to litigate against the operation foundered after law firms in Saudi Arabia refused to represent the affected organisations.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where Premier League content is accessible via only illegal means: either through beIN, which has been banned in the country since 2017, or via illegal television boxes, including beoutQ.

Very little has been said publicly about the sale of Newcastle, but reports of an imminent sale to a Saudi-backed consortium that involves Crown Prince Mohammed Salman for around £300 million (S$528.4 million) have increased in the past week. It was reported on Tuesday that a non-refundable deposit of £17 million has already been paid to owner Mike Ashley as part of the deal.

There has been no comment from Newcastle or the Premier League, which screens potential new investors.

"We consider it essential for the Premier League to fully investigate the potential acquirer of the club, including all directors, officers and other representatives from the KSA PIF (Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia) or other Saudi Arabian entities involved in or otherwise providing any financing for the acquisition," Al-Obaidly wrote in a separate letter to the Premier League's chief executive, Richard Masters.

Human rights groups have also criticised the potential sale to Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.

Amnesty International's UK director, Kate Allen, also wrote a letter to Masters.

"Unless the Premier League pauses and looks seriously at the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, it risks becoming a patsy," she wrote.

NYTIMES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE