Joint statement on beoutQ

23 January 2019 – The following joint statement has been issued on behalf of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga, the Football Association Premier League Limited (The Premier League) and the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (LaLiga):

“Collectively, we, as rights-holders in various football competitions, condemn the pirate entity beoutQ, which continues to abuse the operations of rights holders and legitimate broadcasters through its persistent and illegal screening of events for which it has made no effort to secure the rights; the latest example of which is the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.

The activities of beoutQ are a clear and flagrant breach of our intellectual property rights. beoutQ’s piracy harms not only us, as rights holders, but also our legitimate licensees and, ultimately, the fans of our competitions. Money raised from the sale of TV rights helps us to support the participants, as well as to develop and grow the sports of which we are guardians from the grassroots up. Piracy kills that investment.

We will work closely with partners and relevant authorities to enforce and uphold our intellectual property rights and put an end to this widespread piracy issue for everyone’s benefit.”