The European Parliament has approved software which is designed to remove illegal broadcasts of games in less than 30 minutes of their start.

Part of a larger crackdown by footballing authorities on illegal streaming, Adrian Vazquez (European deputy) said:

“Every league will be able to report any illegal broadcast, and it will be immediately removed. Just like you can’t enter a stadium without buying a ticket, same thing for the internet.”

Whilst currently a EU only initiative despite Brexit the move is likely to be followed by the UK broadcasting sector with the Premier League assumed to be moving to acquire similar technology.

This is of course not without precedent. In 2017, the Premier League was granted a court order which was supposed to help crack down on illegal streaming and saw over 5000 IP addresses blocked.

Premier League director of legal services Kevin Plumb said then that, “It will allow us to quickly and effectively block and disrupt the illegal broadcast of Premier League football via any means, including so called ‘pre-loaded Kodi boxes,’” 

“The protection of our copyright, and the investment made by our broadcast partners, is hugely important to the Premier League and the future health of English football,”

“The ability that clubs have to develop and acquire talented players, to build and improve stadiums, and to support communities and schools is all predicated on being able to market, sell and protect commercial rights.”