Saudi Arabia bans the import, sale, renewal of Bein Sports receivers

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has banned the import of Bein Sports receivers and stopped the sale and renewal of subscriptions to the sports channel, its state news agency reported late on Monday.

(Reuters)

Saudi Arabia's General Commission for Audiovisual Media said it was acting out of "concern for the rights of its citizens and residents" without elaborating further, the news agency reported.

Bein Sports is a spin-off of Al Jazeera, a Qatar state-funded television network that was pulled into a dispute in which Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain last week cut diplomatic ties and transport links with Doha.

The Saudi authority said current subscriptions will not be affected.

(Reporting by Celine Aswad; Editing by Tom Hogue)