Asian Football Confederation hires experts to protect IP

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has appointed a number of experts to help protect its intellectual property from theft and the illegal broadcasting of games.

The hires come after worldwide efforts to stop notorious sports pirate broadcasters beoutQ. The AFC is part of an anti-beoutQ coalition.

The appointments come a month after the AFC’s 2019 Asian Cup, which was held in the UAE.

AFC said it will engage with market leaders to combat against escalating risks from IP theft.

Dato’ Windsor John, general secretary of AFC, commented: “The AFC values its broadcast and commercial partners and wishes to do everything that it can to protect their rights, so we see this as a logical next step.”

“In recent months, the AFC has been involved in a coalition of leading international rights holders, such as FIFA and UEFA as well as some of the top Leagues in the world—particularly in the battle over broadcast rights in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.”

He concluded: “But the question of IP theft runs much wider than just MENA and the AFC prides itself on best practices and good governance and now we are beginning the process of obtaining expert advice on what measures we can take to ensure we remain as leaders in this area.”