{"id":40202,"date":"2026-07-21T18:41:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T16:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=40202"},"modified":"2026-07-21T18:41:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T16:41:17","slug":"us-international-authorities-seize-thousands-of-illegal-world-cup-streaming-sites","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/us-international-authorities-seize-thousands-of-illegal-world-cup-streaming-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"US, international authorities seize thousands of illegal World Cup streaming sites"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A joint law enforcement operation led by the United States (US) Department of Justice and international partners has seized or blocked nearly 3 000 domain names illegally broadcasting FIFA World Cup matches, dealing a major blow to global digital piracy networks.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The sweeping enforcement, carried out under two co-ordinated campaigns named Operation Offsides and Operation Red Card, was spearheaded by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center. More than 1 000 domains were taken down within the US, with a similar number shut down across Latin America.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The operation relied on extensive technical and intelligence support from FIFA, alongside major international broadcasters and rights-holders who lose billions of dollars each year to illicit feeds.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Beyond taking down illegal streams, authorities targeted the broader infrastructure behind the trade. In Colombia, police dismantled the cybercriminal syndicate Los Ciber Infiltrados, arresting key members linked to the streaming operations, while simultaneous raids targeted counterfeit sportswear operations across the region.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Law enforcement officials warned that unauthorised sports streaming is rarely a victimless crime. Aside from undercutting legitimate broadcasting revenues, illicit networks are frequently operated by transnational criminal groups who use ad revenue and stolen user data to finance wider illegal activities. Investigations into the operators and payment processors behind the sites remain ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":40203,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[305,20],"class_list":["post-40202","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-special-projects","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Thousands of illegal World Cup streaming sites seized in international operation","published_date":"2026-07-21 18:35:47","news_description":"Thousands of illegal World Cup streaming sites seized in international operation","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40204,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/40202\/revisions\/40204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=40202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}