Date Published: 08/03/2024

Spain cracks down on people watching football on pirate TV

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A Spanish court has decreed that LaLiga can fine viewers of pirate football, and not just the service providers

Spain cracks down on people watching football on pirate TV

LaLiga has been trying for some time to put an end to piracy in the world of football and now it has managed to get itself a tool to be able to hand out sanctions to those who watch Spanish football on pirate TV.

A court in Barcelona has ruled that legal action may be taken against those users who watch pirated football on TV.

Up until now, Spanish law has stated that only the companies that showed football illegally could be fined but from now on it will be possible to take direct action against viewers themselves.

According to the decision of the 8th Commercial Court of Barcelona, operators will be obliged to inform LaLiga of who connects to the pirate servers, giving the IP address, name and surname of the owner who contracted the internet access service, as well as the postal address, billing address and identity document.

Last October, the president of LaLiga, Javier Tebas, warned of the growth in illegal football consumption by users, saying, “We have eliminated 58 Android applications, which had had 4 million downloads worldwide. For Apple, there have been one million downloads, of which some 300,000 have been in Spain".

As soon as the operators start sending user data, which is expected to happen in the next few days, letters with fines for illegally streaming football will start to arrive at private homes.

In other news: Carlo Ancelotti accused of tax fraud in Spain

Image: Archive

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