The Premier Soccer League (PSL) has pledged its support for CANAL+’s fight against piracy, the biggest threat to the sustainability of the sports ecosystem and in particular, to football in South Africa.

Illegal streaming platforms, stream-ripping services, website links and unlicensed apps have proliferated over the last few years, leading to billions in lost revenue for sports broadcast rights holders, broadcasters and commercial partners.

The PSL met with CANAL+, MultiChoice (Pty) Ltd and SuperSport in an annual Interface meeting to discuss the broadcast strategy and plans for the upcoming milestone 30th PSL season and beyond.

Among the key topics was the scourge of piracy, which threatens the entire sports, entertainment and broadcast media ecosystem. Pirated content threatens the fabric of professional sports across the world, with players, clubs and fans impacted by the rampant use of illegal means of viewing content.

PSL chairman, Dr Irvin Khoza, said it was critical that the organisations, including its fans, stakeholders and clubs, supported CANAL+’s fight against piracy.

“We need to make sure that people support the CANAL+ project, to ensure that it’s a viable proposition, especially on the issues of piracy. There is illegal viewing of DStv content, and we cannot allow that to happen,” Dr Khoza said.

“The sponsor is genuine. To invest this kind of money at the first go, it means their heart is at the right place, so we are going to work with them with the same attitude and the same demeanour that we did with SuperSport.

“A miracle happened with our new partners, CANAL+. The first meeting we had in the first meeting with CANAL+, they extended the contract to 2034, which shows that they appreciate the PSL product. Our job is to make sure that we give them the support and to maintain the viewership that we have developed over the years. Kudos to CANAL+, they have started on the right footing.”