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La Liga Score Major Victory As Pirate Streaming Service Is Ordered To Pay Out €31.6m

La Liga score major victory as pirate streaming service is ordered to pay out €31.6m

La Liga have made a point of pushing back against the illegal streaming of football matches in recent years, and have scored a major victory.

The illegal streaming platform has been providing links to La Liga games since 2014 online, and as reported by Relevo, Rojadirecta have been ordered to reimburse MediaPro €31.6m in damages and compensation. They were one of the largest illegal streaming platforms in Spain.

The owner, Igor Seoane, has been living in Malta in recent years, but was brought to justice last week. That said, the court ruled that it was Rojadirecta liable for the costs, as is Seoane himself, which was celebrated by La Liga President Javier Tebas.

"They fall, and the ones that fall, and they will be big fish. Google, Cloudfare, amongst others… They also make money from this robbery." he tweeted out.

Tebas has said in the past that he dedicates more than half of his time to fighting piracy, and has been lobbying for law changes all over the world in order to fight the piracy. Criticism against him has centred on the fact that watching La Liga in Spain is at least twice as expensive as in Italy, Germany or France, despite, Spain having the lowest average income.

Man City Plan Immediate January Offer For La Liga Star

Man City plan immediate January offer for La Liga star

Manchester City could make an offer for Real Sociedad star Martin Zubimendi as early as next week.

Zubimendi was widely linked with a summer switch to City's Premier League rivals Liverpool before eventually opting against the move at the last minute.

The Spain international dramatically changed his mind, to remain in San Sebastian, but the situation has since reportedly changed in the Basque Country.

Image by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

With Liverpool out of the running, City could now be unopposed in their push for the 25-year-old, as part of a big-spending month ahead in Manchester.

Pep Guardiola is expected to make major investments in the coming weeks, in a bid to revive his struggling team, and Zubimendi would be a major coup.

Zubimendi still has a £52m release clause in his contract, which City can afford, and the club are prepared to back Guardiola to reignite their title defence in 2025 – reports from Football Insider claim an offer could be made within days.

TAFC: Atletico Madrid, Diego Simeone And The Story Of La Liga; Plus: An EFL Player's Shorts Issue

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Hello. All eyes have been on Barcelona and Real Madrid, but Atletico Madrid are stealing Spain's thunder.

On the way:

Atletico: La Liga's Hot Shots

Simeone back at it again

Should we class 2024-25 as the second coming of Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid? Or the third, or the fourth? He's run Atletico for so many years and reinvented them so many times that it's tricky keeping count.

The glory days of 2013-14, when Atletico won La Liga and came within a hair's breadth of winning the Champions League, too, is destined to stand as his finest work, but Simeone is no one-hit wonder. A second domestic title came in 2020-21. A third cannot be discounted because, in Spain, nobody can quite live with Atletico's rampant form.

Across all competitions, it's 12 victories on the spin for Simeone's squad. In La Liga, it's seven back to back. And while several of those results were posted against teams at the lower end of the division, Atletico gave it the big one on Saturday by going to Barcelona and winning 2-1 — from 1-0 down and in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

There's a long way to go, clearly, but the season is developing into yet another validation of Simeone, who, in an era of increasingly short-lived tenures, has been managing Atletico for 13 and a half years now. It's also a validation of Atletico's summer, when they were active to the tune of almost £200m ($251m). The club aimed to go again. And haven't they just.

A good year to shine

The presence of Antoine Griezmann at Atletico — closing in on 34 but scoring, assisting and turning it on in his own style — tempts you to think this is still 2014, but while some things don't change, Simeone is not remotely afraid of evolution.

In the last transfer window, Atletico went purposely big. They spent heavily on striker Julian Alvarez, who was looking for a way out of Manchester City. They threw £27m at another forward, Alexander Sorloth, who buried Saturday's winner and left Barca on their backs. Defender Robin Le Normand came from Real Sociedad and, despite some weirdness, a deal to bring in Conor Gallagher from Chelsea got there in the end.

Two things proved pivotal for Atletico. Firstly, all of those signings have worked, even if Le Normand had to cope with a nasty head injury.  There's been next to no buyer's remorse. And secondly, 2024 was a great summer in which to roll the dice — because neither Barca nor Real Madrid are in their pomp. Both have been in and out and Simeone found Barca wanting with some clever and well-timed substitutions. Atletico lead the table on merit.

Admittedly, their lead over Madrid is a mere point and Barca are only two further back. Simeone cannot bask in the warm glow of reinvention yet, but no club and coach anywhere represent a neater fit. His ability to rattle the establishment is legendary. In a country where two teams carry so much clout, it's something to be celebrated.

Narratives ahoy in the Premier League over the weekend. Let's get to it:

Liverpool's defence is starting to give up goals, but at least that's giving the division a chance. Yesterday's 6-3 win at Tottenham Hotspur was riveting and the craziest game Spurs have endured since… last Thursday. I like Ange Postecoglou, but he can't be having this.

Quite how Ruben Amorim measures progress at Manchester United is tough to say. One Sunday, his side are beating Manchester City. The next, they're getting rinsed at home by Bournemouth. A leaky ceiling in United's press conference room was a metaphor for the task in front of him.

As for City, another defeat. This one to Aston Villa. In summing up the way their head gasket has blown, the following stat is as striking as any: on October 26, they had 23 points. Come December 26, it'll be 27. Shambles.

If I was Wolverhampton Wanderers and I'd punted on Vitor Pereira as head coach, I'd be utterly thrilled with his first game yielding a 3-0 win at Leicester City. Hope springs eternal, though not so much for Leicester, whose crowd booed their own goalkeeper.

Gabriel Jesus is back in the goals for Arsenal and just in time for some gratuitous Christmas references. There didn't look like much room at the inn for him, but two finishes in a 5-1 rout of Crystal Palace were his first in the Premier League this season. Ding dong.

Chelsea could have spent a couple of hours at the top of the league. A 0-0 draw at Everton denied them the pleasure. Enzo Maresca is trying hard to keep feet on the ground, as well he might.

How much longer before Nottingham Forest get Champions League fever?

As TAFC predicted on Friday, Ivan Juric is Southampton's new boss. He probably better prepare for life in the Championship. They're eight points from safety.

Multi-Club Model Hits BrazilNew rules changing the landscape

Botafogo have had a hell of a year. They won Brazil's Serie A championship by a six-point margin from Palmeiras, their first title in almost three decades. They also claimed the Copa Libertadores, a maiden triumph on that front.

A unique aspect of those successes was that they came on the watch of a foreign ownership group. Because of the way Brazilian football was traditionally governed, that would have been impossible before 2021 — when rules were relaxed to allow clubs to operate as businesses, rather than simple sporting institutions.

John Textor, owner of Lyon and shareholder at Crystal Palace, took control of Botafogo in 2022. Textor's reputation in Europe might be mixed, but down in South America, his investment has paid off handsomely. Teams in Brazil are somewhat untapped compared to other parts of the world and multi-club models have them in their eyeline. Get ready for more foreign intervention there soon.

Around The Athletic FC (Getty Images/Design: Eamonn Dalton)Catch A Match (Times ET/GMT)

League One: Crawley Town vs Birmingham City, 3pm/8pm — Paramount+/Sky Sports.

Serie A: Fiorentina vs Udinese, 12.30pm/5.30pm — Paramount+/One Football; Inter Milan vs Como, 2.45pm/7.45pm — Paramount+, Fubo, CBS, Amazon Prime/TNT Sports, OneFootball.

And Finally…

Goal of the day on Saturday came courtesy of League Two Doncaster Rovers. Their second in a 3-1 win over Tranmere Rovers relied on winger Luke Molyneux nobbling defender Jordan Turnbull… by pulling down his shorts. The referee wasn't fussed. Who am I to argue?

(Top photo: Flor Tan Jun/Getty Images)

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