Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd has alleged that five pirate streaming websites were illegally streaming matches from the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) and advertising unauthorised streams of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, prompting it to seek urgent relief from the Delhi High Court. Zee recently acquired the broadcast rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups and the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
In an order dated June 3, Justice Saurabh Banerjee granted an ex parte interim injunction against the websites and directed internet service providers (ISPs), domain name registrars (DNRs), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to take steps to block access to the websites and ensure compliance with the order. The court also extended protection to future mirror websites and rogue mobile applications discovered during the tournament.
What the court ordered: “The plaintiff has been able to make out a prima facie case in its favour and against the defendants and the balance of convenience is also tilting towards grant of relief in favour of the plaintiff. In fact, if an ex parte ad interim injunction in favour of the plaintiff is not granted, the plaintiff will likely suffer irreparable loss and injury,” Justice Banerjee said. The court further observed that it has become “essential” for rights holders to obtain protection against “associated domains/ URLs/ UIs of such rogue mobile applications” to make anti-piracy orders effective.
Accordingly, the court directed:
- The court directed the five named websites and any other infringing entities to stop communicating, hosting, streaming, or making available FIFA World Cup 2026 broadcasts and related content without authorisation.
- DNRs to lock and suspend the domains of the named websites, as well as future rogue websites and associated mobile-app domains identified by Zee. They must also disclose registrant details, including names, email addresses and IP addresses.
- ISPs to block access, on a real-time basis, to the named websites and any subsequently identified infringing websites or mobile-app-related domains, URLs and user interfaces.
- DoT and MeitY are to ensure compliance with the blocking directions issued to ISPs.
- Zee will continue filing affidavits before the court whenever it discovers additional rogue websites or mobile applications and seeks their blocking under the dynamic injunction framework.
2026 World Cup to also be streamed on YouTube: The order comes amid FIFA’s new partnership with YouTube for the tournament. Under the arrangement, YouTube will act as a ‘preferred platform’, allowing FIFA’s official media partners to publish highlights, behind-the-scenes content and, in some markets, stream selected matches on their YouTube channels.
However, in response to questions about the partnership, FIFA told Medianama that the arrangement would be subject to geographical restrictions. “Broadcasts via YouTube will be geo-blocked,” FIFA said in response to queries on whether live World Cup content would be freely accessible worldwide.
The governing body further clarified that the partnership is intended to “enhance and expand the reach of FIFA’s official media partners via their YouTube channels” and that “only FIFA’s official broadcasters will be able to broadcast FIFA World Cup matches on their YouTube channels”. FIFA also said that “it would be up to the media partner in India to decide whether they would want to broadcast matches via their YouTube channel.”
India rights were unsold days before kick-off: The 2026 FIFA World Cup’s broadcast rights remained unsold until June 1, just 10 days before the tournament began, after FIFA struggled to secure a broadcaster in one of its largest markets. FIFA had initially sought about $100 million for the combined India rights to the 2026 and 2030 World Cups before reducing its expectations to around $60 million.
However, broadcasters remained reluctant. JioStar offered about $20 million, while Sony held discussions but did not submit a bid. Unlike the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, most matches in the 2026 tournament will kick off late at night in India because it is being hosted in the United States, Canada and Mexico, which is expected to lead to lower broadcaster interest.
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