Watching it unfold

In the last few years we've heard a lot about a company called Media Protection Services (MPS) in relation to foreign satellite screenings. This is because MPS is paid by the Premier League to carry out investigations and prosecutions involving pubs showing foreign satellite football.

But very little is known about this company and precisely how it goes about its business. This is not helped by the fact MPS does not have a website.

So in an effort to find out more, I was granted the opportunity by its managing director Ray Hoskin - a former Flying Squad detective - to observe him on an afternoon of "investigations".

We meet in an area of London that Hoskin says is "fairly rife" for pubs screening sport using foreign decoder cards. He has a list of around 10 venues MPS believes are screening football using foreign feeds. The majority of tip-offs come from other licensees, Hoskin says - though most are reluctant to give their details for fear of being seen as a grass.

But Hoskin points out that "every complaint gets followed up" of which he claims there are about 120 a week.

It's a Saturday and there's a lunchtime kick-off in the Premier League with Liverpool taking on Bolton.

First up we visit a small community pub where a smattering of locals are already following the match on the pub's big screen. Hoskin immediately spots that the images are coming courtesy of Albanian broadcaster DigitAlb.

After half-finishing a drink we're out the door and onto the next pub. In between, Hoskin explains that pubs found showing foreign satellite football by one of his investigators will initially be issued with a warning.

If a follow-up visit finds they are still using the equipment, legal action will commence. "In the last three years, 8,000 warnings have been issued," Hoskin says.

That's a lot of leg-work, I suggest. He explains who he has working for him: "We've got ex-army, Inland Revenue inspectors, ex-high-ranking coppers and three trading standards officers." He refuses to say exactly how many people he employs, but says they are out "all over the country". Overall though, Hoskin claims, the number of people showing foreign satellite is "dwindling".

Our next two scheduled stops have already been visited by another investigator, who "draws a blank" in MPS terms. Pub number four is a different matter, though. The day's games are advertised on an A-board outside and as soon as we step in Hoskin spots a DigitAlb feed with commentary in English.

One thing that is striking is there are hardly any customers and very few are watching the game. Hoskin says it seems silly to take the risk of showing foreign satellite sport without the return of a pub full of thirsty customers.

I suggest it's just indicative of the tough times that the industry is facing - especially wet-led urban pubs - and it's understandable how some can be tempted by such savings. However Hoskin says it's not just these types of pubs that use the systems, "it's quite a range, you'd be surprised".

Another factor for the lack of interest today can be explained by the more exciting rugby union internationals being shown on terrestrial TV.

We travel a little further out of London to pub number five. Here Hoskin finds a different kettle of fish - no foreign satellite, but Sky on the screen with no pint glass in the corner. This means it's being "piped through", as Hoskin says, from the licensee's living room.

By this time it's 3pm - the start of the "closed period". Our final stop is a venue that Hoskin says used to be notorious for showing games via a foreign system. However, it appears to have changed hands and been turned into a tapas-style cocktail bar. Sport is on the TV, but it's the rugby on the BBC and a handful of punters are soaking up the action.

And that's the end of my brief experience of what MPS gets up to. Clearly plenty of pubs are still willing to take a risk to save themselves some serious money and pull in more punters.

Depending on what happens in the European case, they could be left counting the cost of that risk in the form of a hefty fine. But as you can see from our report there are plenty convinced that those fighting on the other side stand a chance.

In the meantime, Hoskin and his employees will continue in their work with varying degrees of, what they regard as, success. "It's a bit like fishing," he says. "Some days you come back with hardly any and some days you come back with quite a few…"