Five years ago this week… After the French men’s soccer team triumphed at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Faultline looked back at how piracy entangled with politics across the world, notably in Saudi Arabia, which was in a political dispute with its neighbor Qatar. A trade ban made it impossible for Saudi Arabians to watch Qatari channel beIN Sports, the rights holder to all of the competition’s games in the Middle East. The dispute stemmed from BeoutQ, which was still illegally retransmitting beIN’s soccer broadcasts, and the football governing bodies accused Saudi Arabia of being complicit with BeoutQ. Eventually, after Saudi Arabia did not qualify for further stages in the tournament, it was happy to block illegal streams. — …