LFP’s War on Piracy: Users Fined in Arras as Crackdown on Illegal IPTV Intensifies

The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) is no longer just targeting the architects of digital piracy; It’s now going after the customers. In a significant escalation of its legal campaign, the LFP and LFP Media recently highlighted a series of judicial sanctions handed down in Arras against individuals using illegal IPTV subscriptions to stream French football.

The move serves as a stark warning to the millions of viewers who believe that consuming pirated content happens in a vacuum of anonymity. By pursuing both the resellers and the conclude-users, the LFP is attempting to dismantle the financial ecosystem that sustains illegal broadcasting.

The Arras Precedent: Fines for the End-User

The recent legal action in Arras centered on a criminal procedure initiated by the LFP group against defendants suspected of reselling illegal IPTV subscriptions. While the primary target of such investigations is typically the distributor, the investigation in Arras cast a wider net.

During the inquiry, approximately 20 users of the illicit service were identified and questioned. These individuals were subsequently subjected to a “composition pénale”—a legal mechanism in France that allows for the settlement of a criminal matter without a full trial—resulting in fines ranging between 300 and 400 euros.

These sanctions are rooted in Article 79-4 of the 1986 law, a piece of legislation that provides the legal teeth for these crackdowns. Under this law, penalties for such offenses can reach as high as 7,500 euros. For the LFP, these fines are less about the monetary recovery and more about the “strong signal” sent to the public.

The league has been blunt about its perspective: users who subscribe to these services are not innocent bystanders but active contributors to a “mafia-like ecosystem” that severely damages the professional sports sector.

A Multi-Front Strategy: From Courts to Search Engines

The Arras sanctions are part of a broader, systemic approach to piracy that combines criminal prosecution with technical disruption. The LFP has shifted its strategy to include preventive measures, moving beyond simply reacting to new pirate sites as they appear.

On September 18, 2025, the President of the Paris Judicial Court granted the LFP a landmark victory. The court ordered major search engines, specifically Google and Bing, to de-index websites and IPTV services that broadcast Ligue 1 McDonald’s and Ligue 2 BKT matches without authorization.

This “preventive injunction” represents a first for the LFP in France. By removing these sites from search results, the league effectively cuts off the primary discovery route for new pirate subscribers. This effort complements existing blocking orders issued in July 2025, which targeted Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and alternative DNS services.

To keep the pressure on, the LFP and LFP Media are working with Arcom (the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication). Under Article L. 333-10 of the Sports Code, they will petition Arcom to extend these de-indexing orders to new pirate services identified throughout the season.

The Scale of the Challenge: 59% Piracy Rate

The intensity of the LFP’s legal aggression is a direct response to the staggering scale of the problem. According to data reported by L’Équipe and attributed to the LFP, 59% of football fans watch Ligue 1 illegally.

For any sports organization, having more than half of its target audience bypassing official payment channels is a commercial catastrophe. This piracy doesn’t just steal revenue; it undermines the valuation of broadcasting rights, which are the lifeblood of professional clubs.

The timing of this crackdown is strategically linked to the evolution of the league’s own media arm. LFP Media is currently pushing Ligue 1+ into its second year of existence. The platform is aiming for a strategic leap, offering an enriched editorial proposal based on the total exclusivity of Ligue 1 matches.

To produce Ligue 1+ viable and attract a new wave of legitimate subscribers, the LFP believes it must make the “cost” of piracy—both in terms of accessibility and legal risk—higher than the cost of a legal subscription.

Key Legal and Technical Tools in the LFP Arsenal

To understand how the LFP is operating, it is helpful to appear at the specific tools they are employing to fight illegal IPTV subscriptions:

• Criminal Prosecution: Targeting resellers and, as seen in Arras, the end-users via the 1986 Law.
• Search Engine De-indexing: Forcing Google and Bing to hide pirate portals from public view.
• ISP Blocking: Working with internet providers to block access to known pirate IP addresses.
• Regulatory Partnership: Leveraging Arcom to implement rapid, season-long updates to blocklists.

While many fans view IPTV as a victimless crime or a simple way to save money, the LFP’s narrative frames it as an interaction with organized crime. By linking the “cheap” subscriptions to a “mafia ecosystem,” the league is attempting to shift the moral perception of piracy among the fanbase.

As Ligue 1+ continues its rollout and the LFP intensifies its mobilization, the focus will likely remain on high-profile legal wins. The Arras case proves that no one in the chain—not even the person sitting on their couch with a remote—is entirely invisible to the law.

The next phase of this battle will involve the continued expansion of de-indexing lists via Arcom as the current season progresses.

Do you think targeting the end-user is an effective way to stop piracy, or should the focus remain solely on the providers? Let us know in the comments.