It’s interesting to note the contrasting approaches taken by football players in the UK versus those in Asia when it comes to addressing piracy in the sport. While Premiership stars in the UK may remain somewhat insulated from the national piracy debate, players from clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, and Everton are actively lending their support to the Premier League’s ‘Boot Out Piracy’ campaign in Asia.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese government has taken a significant step by publishing a list of sites targeted for an advertising ban, which notably includes some of the most resilient football piracy platforms. It’s a move reminiscent of the classic “Jaws” analogy – suggesting that players like Casemiro and his colleagues may require a more robust strategy to tackle the persistent issue of piracy in football.

It’s evident that the issue of piracy surrounding top-tier football matches is a burning concern in countries hosting Europe’s most prestigious leagues.

From Serie A in Italy to La Liga in Spain, there are ongoing battles, both physical and psychological, against piracy services and their users. In the UK, where broadcaster Sky reportedly needs to recoup at least £5 million for every match aired, following a groundbreaking deal with the Premier League, no stone is left unturned, and few measures are deemed off-limits.

Interestingly, until now, Premiership stars themselves have largely stayed away from the forefront of this fight. Whether this is a deliberate choice or a result of strategic positioning isn’t entirely clear. Nonetheless, there’s a recognition that a lecture from someone who earns in a day what many fans earn in a year could potentially backfire. This situation effectively creates a firewall around players, with clubs shielded from any associated controversies by the Premier League.

In contrast, the Premier League’s recent anti-piracy campaign in Asia takes a different tack. Dubbed ‘Boot Out Piracy’, the campaign aims to combat piracy in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Vietnam. While the messaging aligns closely with that used in the UK, highlighting the risks associated with illegal streaming, what sets this campaign apart is the involvement of Premiership stars. Players such as Casemiro (Manchester United), Diogo Jota (Liverpool), Julio Enciso (Brighton & Hove Albion), Abdoulaye Doucouré (Everton), and Taiwo Awoniyi (Nottingham Forest) are lending their voices to the cause.

It’s intriguing to note that placing Premiership players directly in front of fans in Asia seems to carry less risk, potentially due to thorough research on the matter. However, whether this approach will significantly impact the situation on the ground in Vietnam remains uncertain.

Despite the efforts of the ‘Boot Out Piracy’ campaign, piracy continues to thrive in Vietnam, even after three years of implementation. While local rightsholders are vocal about the issue, governmental action appears lackluster, with little tangible progress seen. This lack of enforcement could affect legal content availability, although access to Premier League content remains unaffected thus far.

Interestingly, unlike in the UK, fans in Vietnam have unrestricted access to Premier League matches through broadcaster K+. The ‘K+ Pack FULL’ package offers all regular channels, movies, and live sports, including every single Premier League match, live and in HD, for just 175,000 Vietnamese dong per month, roughly £5.70. Despite potential differences in cost of living, this package presents exceptional value, especially considering the priceless nature of Saturday games in the UK, even without factoring in pirate services.

Casemiro’s charm may hold some sway, but even the presence of Marcus Rashford in previous campaigns failed to stem the tide of piracy. Interestingly, for a subset of fans, the challenge of mustering the funds to wager while watching Premier League matches on pirate sites seems less daunting than scraping together 175,000 dong to pay for legitimate access to the Premier League.

A crackdown on gambling activities has inadvertently benefitted the Premier League. Reports from 2023 indicate that Vietnamese ISPs receive periodic directives from authorities to block or take action against various platforms, often described as infringing copyright by offering Premier League, Serie A, and La Liga matches without proper licensing.

However, these targeted sites often share a common thread: they also promote and provide access to illegal gambling services. It appears that the authorities are less tolerant of these activities, leading to actions against the platforms hosting them.

TorrentFreak recently obtained the latest Ministry of Information and Communications list, titled “Danh sach website cö däu hiéu vi Pham phäp luat” or “List of websites that violate the law.”

This compilation comprises over 400 domain names and, according to metadata, was last updated on December 26, 2023, with around 200 of those domains being new additions from December 2023.

While the specific laws these sites allegedly breach are not detailed, a common thread among them, based on our sampling, appears to be links to gambling. The Ministry of Information and Communications expects companies in the advertising sector to refrain from placing ads on these platforms, many of which offer illicit football streaming or services providing text updates on live matches.

Leading the pack are domains associated with the notorious pirate streaming site brand ‘Xôi Lạc’ or ‘Sticky Rice’, which has been operating in various forms since 2016. At least six Xôi Lạc domains feature on the list, with a trio occupying the top three slots.

The pertinent question is whether inclusion on the list impacts a site’s operations. Upon investigation of ‘Xôi Lạc’ domains, it is evident that the platform has already taken evasive measures and effectively circumvented the list.

For instance, the blacklisted domain xoilacchamtv.org now redirects to a new domain, xoilac12h.com, which is not listed. The same tactic applies to xoilacchamtv.com, which also redirects to the new domain. As depicted in the image below, ‘Xôi Lạc’ was offering its usual array of top-tier football matches from the UK, Italy, Spain, and beyond, as of last evening.

Highlighted in red, the site indicated the availability of live matches on Tuesday, albeit without advertising.

The purported absence of advertising and its correlation with the new advertising blacklist remains uncertain. However, the assertion of ‘no advertising’ warrants further examination.

The screenshots below provide a snapshot of two games illicitly broadcasted via Xoi Lac domains last evening (red denotes blacklisted domain, green denotes domain diversion). On the left is a Serie A match, and on the right, a Premier League fixture, both allegedly available without advertising.

In the left-hand image, the expanded chatbox reveals that ads for gambling services continue to be promoted as usual. However, by embedding them within a chatbox, users of the site could potentially be held accountable.

Another noteworthy aspect of these sites is the significant presence of English speakers, indicating that the platforms may be reaching beyond Vietnam’s borders. This poses a challenge also encountered by Hollywood, but there are few indications that any action will be taken to address this issue in the near future, regardless of the content involved.