Premier League to prosecute 100 pubs over foreign satellite screenings

There is particular focus on south Wales, where in the last four months the Premier League’s investigation firm has visited almost 200 venues in the region. It follows the promotion of Cardiff City to the Premier League, joining Swansea, who were also recently promoted.

The first prosecution is set to take place against a Swansea venue shortly, the BBC reports.

Damaging​

Dan Johnson, the Premier League’s director of communications, told the broadcaster: "BT Sport and Sky Sports invest huge amounts of money in the Premier League and that then is in turn invested by the clubs in new stadia, developing players, acquiring players, the whole range of things that make Premier League football so popular.

"So anything that damages the ability of broadcasters to invest in that has the potential to damage the ability of the clubs to invest in that.

"With the advent of Cardiff and Swansea being in the Premier League clearly the interest in Premier League football has gone through the roof in south Wales.

"So, it becomes an area of interest and you can go round the country and you can see these blackspots where Premier League football is of great interest, and people will try and utilise that interest to their advantage, including pubs and clubs.

Education​

"We want to help pubs, we want to help educate licensees, and when we go in and find use of foreign satellite systems we’ll give them the opportunity to get rid of that system.

"So if in the first instance - they say ‘we hear you, we’ll get rid of this system and we’ll get a legitimate one’ - they will face no further action and we don’t want to be going round the country prosecuting pubs and licensees.

"However if they choose not to, they face the very real prospect of prosecution."