Key Takeaways
- The U.S. Department of Justice’s Operation Offsides seized more than 1,000 domains illegally streaming 2026 FIFA World Cup matches across three enforcement waves, led by HSI’s Washington Field Office and the National IPR Center.
- Officials framed the crackdown as both a copyright and consumer-protection move, warning that illicit streaming sites can inject malware or steal payment data, with backing from rights holders like FIFA, beIN, NBCUniversal, ACE, UFC, and Warner Bros.
- A parallel international push, Operation Red Card, saw Latin American partners — especially Colombia — block thousands of piracy sites, raid cybercrime group Los Ciberinfiltrados, and run counterfeit sports-apparel busts that produced multiple arrests and convictions.
The DOJ has seized more than 1,000 domains, completing its most sweeping sports-piracy enforcement action to date.
On Monday (July 20), the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed that more than 1,000 internet domains used to broadcast 2026 FIFA World Cup matches without authorization had been seized under what they called Operation Offsides.
The seizures unfolded in three separate waves across the tournament, with the first announced on June 26 after federal agents shut down nearly 400 domains. Two additional enforcement rounds pushed the total past 1,000 by Monday (July 20), according to an announcement put out by the Justice Department.
Homeland Security Investigations agents working from the Washington Field Office, alongside the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, led the domestic side of the effort. Warrant applications were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, where agents confirmed that the targeted domains were actively carrying live World Cup broadcasts without any authorization.
"The sustained effort to seize more than a thousand domains dedicated to illegally streaming the World Cup confirms the administration's commitment to intellectual property rights and to the success of the 2026 FIFA World Cup," Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva said.
"Operation Offsides is part of the Department's ongoing effort to protect copyright while reducing the risk to American consumers from the malicious software embedded in many illicit streaming services."
Officials consistently described the crackdown as both a copyright and consumer-protection measure. HSI Deputy Executive Associate Director Matthew Millhollin cautioned that operators of unauthorized streaming platforms "might also be planning to inject malware or steal your payment information."
FIFA, beIN Media Group, NBCUniversal, the Motion Picture Association's Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment, UFC, and Warner Bros. all provided supporting information to help identify seized domains.
Extending well beyond U.S. borders, a parallel initiative called Operation Red Card, coordinated through the DOJ's International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property program, took place across Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Peru.
Colombia blocked the largest share (1,140 illegal streaming sites), followed by Brazil (309), the Dominican Republic (256), Ecuador (223), Peru (28), and Argentina (14).
Colombian enforcement went further than domain blocking. A Phase II operation launched July 10 with simultaneous raids in Bogotá, Soacha, Maríalabaja, Manatí, and Sincerín, resulted in the arrest of four members of cybercriminal group Los Ciberinfiltrados.
Active since 2024, Los Ciberinfiltrados had allegedly penetrated telecom systems and sold pirated streams of World Cup matches through fraudulent credentials, VPNs, and manipulation of corporate system profiles. Thirteen additional search-and-seizure operations targeting counterfeit sports apparel led to 11 further arrests and convictions.
The DOJ's Criminal Division Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section has secured more than 180 cybercrime and IP convictions and court orders for the return of more than $350 million in victim funds since 2020.
