
UEFA has publicly issued support for Operation Kratos, a multinational effort to prevent international piracy.
Headed by the Republic of Bulgaria’s Ministry of the Interior and supported by police agencies from the Italian and Croation Republics alongside Europol and Eurojust, as well as Spanish football league LaLiga, Operation Kratos has actively dismantled a global piracy network used by over 22 million users.
Executed throughout the middle of 2024, during major sporting events such as the, Paris Olympics, UEFA EUROs tournament and UEFA Champions League, Operation Kratos undertook 112 search and seizures of equipment, and identified 102 suspects, arresting 11.
Across the seizures, law enforcement discovered 270 IPTV devices, 100 domains that had been used for crime, and nearly 30 servers. In addition, authorities found weapons, drugs, 2.65 million AUD in cryptocurrency and 66,000 AUD in cash.
UEFA played a crucial part in the operation, providing critical and prompt information on illegal sports streams. Information was gained through UEFA’s widespread content protection program which monitors for stolen content using the latest available technology.
A UEFA spokesperson highlighted the value of Operation Kratos for the organisation and sport as a whole.
“UEFA welcomes and supports such a successful and unprecedented operation that neutralised a record number of illegal streaming platforms and illegal IPTV services. We would like to thank the various stakeholders involved for their ongoing efforts and the high level of cooperation in fighting digital piracy by bringing actions such as this against organised crime”
“Financial revenue generated from media rights is vital for the well-being of both professional and amateur football. In particular, it is essential to football development and grassroots investment throughout Europe.
“The fight against the online piracy of our competitions remains a key priority for UEFA. We are committed to doing whatever is possible to stop this core threat to the revenues which underpin the European football ecosystem.”
UEFA will continue to assist organisations in the fight against piracy.