Illegal World Cup streaming sites continue to flourish in Vietnam despite crackdown

On Sunday morning, while the Scotland-Haiti match was being broadcast legally by Vietnam's national broadcaster VTV, numerous unauthorized websites were simultaneously streaming the game without permission.

Many of the sites used different domain names such as ukiss..., yess..., fitma..., fundition… but incorporated the keyword ‘XoilacTV,’ a name long associated with illegal sports streaming in Vietnam.

Websites carrying variations of the ‘XoilacTV’ tag offered users easy access to live matches through interfaces nearly identical to the original XoilacTV platform.

Most of these websites were filled with banners advertising illegal gambling services, targeting unsuspecting users.

Although major piracy operations such as XoilacTV have been shut down in previous enforcement campaigns, similar networks and websites continue to emerge under new domain names and resume unauthorized broadcasts of major sporting events.

Industry experts said the demand for premium sports content in Vietnam remains extremely high, particularly for global tournaments such as the World Cup.

The massive online traffic generated by these events creates lucrative advertising opportunities, often linked to betting and disguised gambling services.

This profit incentive allows pirated systems to quickly reappear even after crackdowns.

The current XoilacTV clones are said to number in the hundreds or even thousands, ready to replace one another when authorities shut them down.

Illegal broadcasters are also shifting to social media, streaming matches in private Facebook groups, TikTok accounts, or Telegram channels.

To evade copyright detection, they use tricks such as flipping screens, altering audio frequencies, or inserting animated frames to bypass AI filters during the full 90 minutes of play.

Vietnamese authorities have stepped up enforcement efforts against intellectual property violations.

As of the end of last month, authorities had identified 2,036 cases showing signs of intellectual property infringement.

Among them, 1,616 cases resulted in administrative penalties totaling nearly VND17.9 billion (US$679,700).

The value of infringing goods involved exceeded VND115.5 billion ($4.4 million), while more than 1,600 organizations and individuals faced legal sanctions.

Officials blocked access to 1,073 infringing websites, including 263 illegal movie sites, 177 pirated comic sites, 612 unauthorized TV streaming sites, and 21 e-commerce sites suspected of violating industrial property rights.

Aside from administrative penalties, investigators launched 44 criminal cases involving intellectual property violations.

Among the criminal investigations, seven cases involved copyright and related-rights violations, while 37 cases concerned infringements of industrial property rights.