European football’s governing body UEFA has joined the Coalition Against Piracy (CAP) under AVIA and the Clearing House for Copyright Infringement on the Internet (CUII) to expand anti-piracy intelligence and capability in key markets.

Following the announcement of its recent ground-breaking partnership with the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), UEFA said it has joined two additional organisations in order to further enhance its content protection programme.

In becoming a member of the Coalition Against Piracy (CAP), the anti-piracy division of the Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA), UEFA has taken a significant step forward in its commitment to protecting its content and broadcast partners across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, the football governing body said in a statement November 13.

This regional alliance of major media and sports rights holders combats digital piracy through coordinated enforcement, site-blocking initiatives and strategic engagement with governments and intermediaries, as well as access to specialised research and intelligence.

Conscious that Asia is a part of the world where audio-visual piracy remains a persistent problem, UEFA said it sees membership of CAP as a clear means to expand its anti-piracy capabilities and address the region’s specific challenges.

“UEFA’s membership follows a successful trial phase with CAP where website-blocking measures were successfully implemented for the UEFA Champions League final by CAP and UEFA in both Malaysia and Indonesia. These measures have continued to be deployed throughout the current season,” the statement added.

UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, is the governing body of European football, futsal, and beach soccer, overseeing 55 national football associations. It acts as the European representative to football’s global governing body FIFA.

In a separate move, UEFA can also announce that it has joined the independent German anti-piracy organisation known as CUII (Clearing House for Copyright Infringement on the Internet).

Comprising sports rights-holders, broadcasters, film, music and game right-holders and the major German internet service providers (ISPs), CUII assists and coordinates the efficient implementation and enforcement of so-called “website-blocking orders” in Germany and drives positive change in the legal environment that enables prompt and effective enforcement action through cross-industry collaboration.

This step ensures UEFA remains at the forefront of anti-piracy initiatives in Germany and reinforces its commitment to content protection in the country, it observed.

These collaborations form just one part of UEFA’s broader strategy to deliver an industry-leading anti-piracy programme which helps to safeguard the commercial interests of UEFA and UC3 as well as their broadcast partners worldwide across all of UEFA’s club and national team competitions.

Recently, UEFA also reaffirmed its collaboration and commitment to joint action with Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency.