beIN SPORTS, the leading sports broadcaster in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), will broadcast the inaugural ‘Match for Hope’ charity football match live across MENA, spotlighting an exhibition game featuring a host of football legends including Roberto Carlos, Ricardo Kaka, Claude Makelele, David Villa, as well as some of the world’s most-watched content creators. The match, which is being organised by Q Life, a cultural platform under Qatar’s International Media Office (IMO, in collaboration with Qatar Football Association (QFA) and Education Above All Foundation, is set to take place on 23 February at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, which hosted seven matches during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.
Live studio coverage before the match kicks-off on beIN SPORTS’ free to air channel in Arabic at 19:30 MECCA, and in English on beIN SPORTS ENGLISH 1, leading right up to the opening whistle at 20:00 MECCA. Presenter, Meshari Al Khuzaim, will lead the Arabic studio analysis and will be joined by former Qatari international footballer Ibrahim Khalfan and former Moroccan professional footballer Abdelaziz Bennij. The English studio will be fronted by beIN’s presenter Nicky Crosby with expert analysis from former French football professional Didier Domi, former Republic of Ireland international Jason McAteer and English former professional footballer Nick Summerbee. The match will also be streamed live to a global audience on beIN SPORTS’ YouTube channel.
Coached by former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Italian professional footballer Antonio Conte, and captained by social media sensations AboFlah and Chunkz, the match aims to raise money and awareness for Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, a global non-profit organisation dedicated to transforming the lives of millions of out-of-school children around the world. All proceeds from the match will be donated to EAA projects in Mali, Pakistan, Palestine, Rwanda, Sudan, and Tanzania. Match tickets can be purchased on the Match for Hope website at match4hope.com. Fans can also contribute to the cause by clicking the ‘Donate’ button.
In addition to the upcoming ‘Match for Hope’, beIN has a longstanding commitment to harnessing the power of sports to support charitable causes and using its global platform to drive positive change. Most recently, beIN broadcast the entire AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ live for injured Palestinians evacuated from Gaza to Qatar in their dedicated housing complex and in the hospitals where many were still receiving treatment, providing temporary respite from the war. This initiative was an extension of beIN’s pledge to make the beautiful game more inclusive, which also saw it broadcast the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ in dedicated fan zones across the MENA region specifically for refugees and displaced people. Moreover, beIN has been proactive in response to natural disasters, as seen in its fundraising campaign for Morocco and Libya. The campaign, in partnership with Qatar Charity, leveraged beIN’s extensive network, including over 20 TV channels and digital platforms, to generate donations for humanitarian and medical aid.
