LaLiga chief Javier Tebas insists looking for illegal football streams online is the SAME as searching for ‘cocaine’ and ‘child sex’ as he issues warning to Whatsapp and Meta in bizarre rant

Javier Tebas has claimed that illegal streams are more readily available online than those seeking to buy illegal drugs or child pornography in a tirade against the rise in football piracy. 

Tebas is the president of Spain’s top-flight, LaLiga, and has caught headlines on a number of occasions for his words, for example he admitted ‘I don’t care’ after receiving criticism for welcoming Mason Greenwood to the division. 

Greenwood joined Getafe on loan from Manchester United on transfer deadline day last summer, having previously been arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault – allegations which were later dropped.

Tebas was in attendance in Miami for the Intellectual Property Summit, and it was there that he launched an attack against a perceived lack of punishment for those involved in football piracy. 

There has been a recent crackdown in the United Kingdom on the use of ‘fire sticks’ to stream football, with one individual – Steven Mills – jailed for two-and-a-half years for providing the illegal tools which showed Premier League matches via a closed Facebook group. 

Tebas was in attendance in Miami for the Intellectual Property Summit and discussed the need to crack down on football piracy

Speaking on the topic, Tebas claimed that while football piracy is still a crime, much like ‘buying cocaine’ or searching for ‘child sex’, illegal streams are still readily available for anyone seeking them.

‘If you go to Google and type in “I want to buy cocaine” or “child sex” nothing appears. But if you type in “free football” it appears… One is considered a serious crime, but the other is not, and it’s the same thing.’

He continued: ‘On Telegram and Discord there are groups of 50 and 60 thousand people, of all languages, with the ‘links’ to view illegal content. 

‘In Spain they were going to ban Telegram for piracy, in the end the judge who was willing to do it backed down. They and Discord are giving a lot of information on how you can get this content. 

‘We will also go after Meta because it is also happening in the WhatsApp communities and they are not collaborating to help clarify it.’

Tebas and LaLiga are thought to be preparing for the arrival of Kylian Mbappe this summer, with the French captain at last set to join Los Blancos after years of to-ing and fro-ing over a potential deal. 

The player has been part of a long-term pursuit from the Spanish titans that has seen him come close to leaving the French capital on a number of occasions, only to sign bumper deals at PSG at each turn. 

Now, though, Tebas seemed to be confident that the deal would at last materialise, telling L’Equipe that the move had a ’99 per cent chance’ of success. 

The LaLiga chief has claimed that he is ’99 per cent’ confident Kylian Mbappe will join Real Madrid

‘Knowing that he’s leaving PSG, there’s a 99 per cent chance that Mbappe signs for Real Madrid,’ he said. ‘But I don’t know if he’s already signed. It’s great news for Real Madrid and for Spanish football. 

‘[Mbappe] is one of the best players in the world. In my view, [Jude] Bellingham, [Erling] Haaland and Mbappe are the three most dominant players on the planet, and two of them are at Real Madrid.’

The La Liga chief added: ‘At the moment, their financial results are very good and they can spend a lot more than they do. 

‘Madrid have been very prudent financially, they’ve prepared for the signing of Mbappe… They don’t have to sell anyone to allow themselves to sign Mbappe.’