Nearly 400 web domains used to stream live FIFA World Cup matches without authorization have been seized by the U.S. Justice Department’s Criminal Division, authorities announced Friday.
Seizure action by the U.S. Justice Department and Operation Offsides
According to the announcement, the domains provided unauthorized, real-time streams of 2026 World Cup matches in violation of U.S. copyright law. A banner displayed on the seized sites reads, “This website has been seized by law enforcement authorities as part of Operation Offsides, a coordinated global effort led by the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center with international law enforcement and private sector partners.” The banner continues: “This action was taken to protect consumers and enforce intellectual property rights worldwide.”
International coordination through the ICHIP Network and targeted servers
The action was coordinated with international partners through the International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (ICHIP) Network of U.S. prosecutors. Authorities targeted servers and domains in multiple countries—Peru and Bulgaria were explicitly named, alongside actions touching Croatia, Romania, Poland, and Colombia—underscoring the cross-border footprint of the streaming infrastructure.
Private-sector partners supplied investigative leads
Law enforcement agents said they identified the seized domains using leads provided by U.S. authorities together with a range of private-sector rights holders and distributors. Named contributors to the investigation include FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), beIN Media Group, NBCUniversal, the Motion Picture Association’s Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and Warner Bros.
Consumer risks, ICE HSI warnings, and related FBI advisory
Authorities framed the seizures not only as intellectual-property enforcement but also as consumer protection. “These streamers not only violate copyright laws but also expose viewers to potential threats — including malware attacks and unsecure connections that can compromise personal and financial data,” said Special Agent in Charge Eric Weindorf of ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington Field Office.
The Friday announcement followed an FBI warning in May about fake websites impersonating FIFA ahead of the 2026 World Cup. The FBI cautioned that impersonator sites could be used to sell fake tickets and hospitality packages, steal personal and financial information, and push other scams and fraud attempts related to the event.
PirloTV takedowns and the pattern of migration by piracy platforms
The Justice Department’s seizures arrive on the heels of a separate enforcement action last week that involved ACE, UEFA, UC3, and Mexican authorities shutting down 44 domains linked to the illegal PirloTV streaming platform. Those 44 domains collectively generated more than 950 million visits every year, including around 230 million visits from Mexico alone, according to ACE.
PirloTV is described as a service that aggregates and embeds links to unauthorized live sports streams—primarily soccer—and is “notorious for aggressively migrating to new domains following takedown actions by authorities.” ACE said the service “primarily targeted viewers throughout Latin America, with particularly strong audiences in Mexico and Colombia, while also attracting significant traffic from markets such as Spain and the United States.” The platform is reportedly used to watch World Cup 2026 matches on mobile devices, a behavior that enforcement authorities say is shaped by platform-specific access restrictions and the fragmentation of broadcasting rights.
What this means for consumers, broadcasters, and law enforcement
- Consumers: Law enforcement emphasizes consumer risk beyond copyright infringement; authorities point to malware and unsecured connections that can compromise personal and financial data, and the FBI previously warned about ticket- and hospitality-related scams.
- Broadcasters and rights holders (FIFA, beIN, NBCUniversal, ACE, UFC, Warner Bros.): These organizations provided leads used by law enforcement, reflecting a cooperative model that blends private monitoring with prosecutorial networks such as ICHIP and coordination through the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center.
- Law enforcement and prosecutors (U.S. Justice Department, ICHIP Network, ICE HSI, international partners): The seizures and the prior PirloTV takedowns illustrate a pattern of multinational, multi-agency operations focused on both removing infringing infrastructure and signaling enforcement against rapidly migrating piracy services.
The combined actions — the nearly 400-domain seizure under Operation Offsides and the recent 44-domain PirloTV takedown — highlight repeating enforcement tactics: identifying domains via private-sector intelligence, coordinating across borders, and executing seizures aimed at interrupting streaming networks and warning consumers of added cyber risks. Authorities describe the moves as both intellectual-property enforcement and consumer protection; how quickly piracy platforms reconstitute elsewhere will be a test of that approach.
