Javier Tebas: "If we don't bring an end to piracy, the Spanish league will end up being just like any other"

On Monday Javier Tebas took part in a session titled "Challenges in the fight against piracy of audiovisual and sports conten" organised by the FIDE (Foundation for Research into Law and Business) and moderated by Alberto Palomar, profesor of Administrative Law at the Carlos III University in Madrid. As well as Javier Tebas, Eduardo de Porres Ortiz de Urbina, the President of the Provincial Parliament of Madrid, and José Antonio Suárez Lozano, General Secretary of the Organisation of Law of Audiovisual Producers (EGEDA) also spoke at the event.

The president of La Liga began his speech by explaining the work the organisation is doing in both localising servers as well as finding out about the different ways audiovisual content is pirated (such as 'streaming' and 'cardsharing').

"We've made significant advances in modifying the penal code, but technology moves much quicker," he said, and then produced some statistics.

"Our calculations at La Liga say that 200,000 decoders work in Spain, and there are more than 16,000 IP addresses that watch football for free," he explained.

"In terms of retransmitting games via 'streaming', the losses total more than 300 million euros." 

Javier Tebas also explained that "the battle against this issue is a juridicial one. We are preparing a reform in the Penal Code, and indirect we’ve opened a commercial avenue based on unfair competition and on the appeal of the 'Uber Case'". “We hope that this reform helps us end piracy." 

Tebas also explained to the attendees, comprised of experts in audiovisual material and the internet, that the future of football depends on putting a stop to piracy.

"The football industry depends on it. If we don’t end piracy we won’t be able to compete with other European leagues and the Spanish league will end up being just like a normal league," he said.

As well as Javier Tebas, Eduardo de Porres took to the floor, giving the legal point of view in the fight against audiovisual piracy. "We are getting to grips with the internet world, everything changes very quickly and legislators have not adapted to the new requirements yet," he said.

De Porres also outlined the new elements of the reform to the Penal Code. José Antonio Suárez, meanwhile, reiterated that "piracy costs the state millions of euros a year".