Five arrests in pirate TV crackdown

THE war on illegal streaming of live football matches — the biggest threat to the Premier League’s £5billion TV rights deal — saw five arrests in early-morning raids yesterday. The traders were accused of selling illegal set-top boxes modified to stream expensive subscription football games for nothing, after pirate equipment was found at their homes in Manchester, Bolton, Bootle, Cheadle and Rhyl. The action was co-ordinated by Federation Against Copyright Theft on behalf of the Premier League and their TV partners Sky, BT Sport and Virgin Media. FACT believe the five arrested had made around £250,000 selling the loaded Kodi box devices online. Kodi software is designed to play content freely available on the internet but can be modified to provide pirate access to live Premier League football, for which Sky Sports pay £11m a game. Sports industry sources claim one Premier League match this season had a record streaming audience of more than 1million. Kieron Sharp, director of FACT said: ‘Anyone selling these boxes should not be surprised to receive a knock on the door.’ The five arrested have been released on bail following questioning.