Arcom threatens pirate IPTV users with blackouts during 2026 World Cup

The Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle et numérique (Arcom) has warned users of pirate IPTV services that they face sudden interruptions during the 2026 World Cup, held from June 11 to July 19 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

When questioned on Radio France, Pauline Combredet-Blassel, deputy director general of Arcom, summed up the risk bluntly: “The risk is a black screen during penalties.” The regulator plans a real-time blocking system for IP addresses identified as illegally broadcasting matches, for the duration of each game.

This mechanism is not unprecedented: Arcom had already tested it during Roland-Garros, acting directly at the source to interrupt pirate streams without waiting for standard legal proceedings. For the World Cup, the aim is to deploy this system on a much larger scale, across all 64 matches of the tournament.

Piracy of major sporting events has been particularly closely monitored in France since the adoption of the law of March 27, 2024, which strengthened Arcom’s powers regarding dynamic blocking. Internet service providers are required to cooperate with the regulator to execute these cuts within very short timeframes, sometimes less than thirty minutes after identification of an illicit stream.

The 2026 World Cup represents the first major test of this system on the scale of a global football competition, and Arcom intends to make it a visible demonstration to deter subscribers to pirate services from attempting to use them throughout the tournament.