Two Egyptian nationals have been sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of offences related to their running of an unauthorised offshoot of the Streameast sports piracy platform.
Streameast has become a “piracy brand” rather than a single domain or website and has been a huge player in the world of illegal streaming, providing free access to a wide range of global sports fixtures, including international football, Premier League, Champions League, NFL, NBA and MLB.
The United States’ Homeland Security Investigations targeted the original Streameast site in 2024 but multiple copycat sites sprang up after that, including the one at the centre of this case, which cloned its characteristics.
The men were arrested on the outskirts of Cairo in August 2025 following a year-long investigation. With more than 120 domains and an annual audience of 1.6 billion, this was the largest part of the network to have been taken down. The operation involved 22 officers in two locations.
The sentences were handed down by the Cairo Economic Court where the two men — an engineer and a medical doctor who are both in their late 30s and have not been named publicly by authorities due to ongoing investigations — were found guilty of six criminal charges.
These included two cybercrime-related offences, one copyright infringement offence, one offence relating to the unauthorised reception of encrypted broadcast channels, one offence relating to operating sports media websites without the required licence and one offence relating to unlicensed virtual asset (cryptocurrency) activities in violation of Egyptian financial regulations.
The prison sentences relate to the first five of those charges, while the men were fined £80,000 ($110,000) each in relation to the sixth (the cryptocurrency activities).
“This judgment delivers a strong and unmistakable message: digital piracy poses a serious threat to creators and fans in Egypt and elsewhere and anyone who profits from it will face significant legal consequences,” said Charles Rivkin, chairman of the Alliance of Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), which represents more than 50 global media organisations.”
In reference to this case, he added: “Our teamwork with Egyptian authorities, and our action against Streameast, demonstrate the growing determination of governments to protect creative industries, consumers, and legitimate digital marketplaces across the region.”
The operation run by the two men generated £7.6million ($10.2m) in advertising revenue, approximately £450,000 in multiple crypto wallets and credit cards, and was linked to overseas shell companies and real estate. The ruling ordered confiscation of financial assets and further investigations into the proceeds are ongoing. Computers, mobile phones, streaming equipment, and cash — approximately £95,000 were also seized.
In a special audio documentary — The Underground World of Illegal Streaming — ACE senior vice-president and deputy chief of content protection Dani Bacsa highlighted the “majority of the traffic going to that service came from the U.S., from Canada or the UK” and its resistance to takedown notices made it “a high priority target”. On average, 136 million people watched sports action on the cloned site each month.
The men were detained after their arrests and Egypt’s attorney general’s office said they were being tried for “establishing and managing a transnational criminal organisation specialising in pirating sports broadcasts and violating intellectual property rights”.
The court also granted a civil claim brought by Cable Network Egypt (CNE), which ordered the two men to pay provisional civil compensation and associated legal costs. CNE is in partnership with Qatar-owned beIN Sports, which is an official FIFA World Cup rights holder.
The issue of piracy has been a point of focus for the U.S. Department of Justice during the tournament. It announced on Monday that more than 1,000 unauthorised streaming websites were seized as a result of a special sting called ‘Operation Offsides’.
Ivan J. Arvelo, director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, praised a coordinated effort involving 14 partners in 54 countries and said: “The unauthorized broadcast of World Cup matches violates intellectual property rights and fuels criminal organizations.”
Piracy is estimated to cost the sports industry £20bn a year, but subscription costs and convenience continue to make it popular. The Athletic previously surveyed more than 5,000 people and 47 per cent of respondents — subscribers from around the world, who took part anonymously — said they watch football via illegal streams.