The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a leading global anti-piracy organization, has shut down live sports piracy website Watchwrestling.ai and its associated domains, which were being operated out of India.

ACE, according to a media statement put out by the organisation from Los Angeles yesterday, identified and confronted the site’s Uttar Pradesh-based operator, who transferred watchwrestling.ai and all associated domains to ACE. The sites now redirect to ACE’s “Watch Legally” page.

Over the past year watchwrestling.ai and its associated domains have reached more than 253 million visits. Most of the traffic originated from the United States, the United Kingdom, India and Canada, the ACE statement said.

“The shutdown of watchwrestling.ai marks an important victory in our ongoing campaign against the piracy of live sports programs,” said Jan van Voorn, EVP and Chief of Global Content Protection at the Motion Picture Association and Head of ACE.

“The use of piracy sites to view live sporting and pay-per-view events is impacting the sustainability of live event programming. Legal services provide premium entertainment content that is reliable and legal. Piracy funds crime groups and puts consumers at risk of malware infection. This case should serve as a warning to illegal piracy operators everywhere that their days are numbered,” Voorn added.

ACE worked closely with DAZN, one of the world’s leading live-sports streaming services and an ACE member, on this action.

“DAZN has invested significant amounts in building a successful business around combat sports, helping fund the development of MMA and boxing, as well as providing the best quality content and service for fans,” said Ed McCarthy, Chief Operating Office of DAZN Group.

ACE is a leading global coalition of entertainment companies and studios dedicated to protecting the dynamic legal market and reducing digital piracy. Driven by a comprehensive approach to addressing piracy through criminal referrals, civil litigation, and cease and desist operations, it has achieved many successful global enforcement actions against illegal streaming services and unauthorized content sources and their operators.