League fights illegal screenings

The Premier League has called in the Federation Against Copyright Theft to tackle the growing problem of unauthorised screenings of live Premiership matches on Saturday afternoons.

It is illegal to show live matches between 2.45pm and

5.15pm on Saturdays. Yet pubs across the UK are packing in the punters by showing games beamed in from continental Europe.

'We estimate that more than 1,000 pubs show matches illegally,' says federation director of operations Spencer Mott. 'The trend started off in places such as Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle, where there is strong support for the local clubs, but the problem is growing all the time.'

Special decoders and smartcards that allow landlords to show matches intended for a continental European audience can be bought for about £1,500 a year. This is cheaper than a subscription to Sky, which currently has the rights to Premier League matches, which can be shown live outside the closed period.

The Football Association has never allowed live broadcasts of Premiership matches in the UK on Saturday afternoons, fearing that smaller clubs would suffer from lower attendances.

But broadcasting companies are now putting together multi-million pound packages to bid for more live matches.

Pubs that have legitimate Sky subscriptions, or those that cannot afford to pay Sky's fees and so show no satellite sports at all, have constantly complained that not enough is done to stop other pubs taking their customers by illegally showing football.

Now, as well as targeting landlords who flout the copyright laws, the FA is going after the companies that are selling the equipment. One is about to be taken to court for conspiracy to defraud, and Mott says a 'significant' number of individuals, companies and directors are facing criminal prosecutions.