Vinicius Jr in hot water! La Liga write to Real Madrid accusing star of piracy after social media post during Liverpool clash

Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, claims that Vinicius proved he was engaging in privacy when he uploaded an image to his Instagram story of a television screen showing Madrid’s clash with Liverpool, per Relevo. The Brazilian missed the game with a leg injury, but watched from home, seemingly doing so on Brazilian TNT Sports, who hold the rights to the Champions League in his homeland. In Spain, however, Movistar hold the rights.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Tebas is waging a war on piracy – alleging that it costs La Liga around €700 million (£581m/$740m) per season – and as a result, he instructed La Liga to write to Madrid. It has been claimed, however, Vinicius can legally watch TNT Sports Brasil in Spain if he has a Brazilian HBO Max account. Despite Tebas’ protestations, Vinicius may not have done anything illegal.

  WHAT TEBAS SAID

  Tebas is said to have written: “If he is in Madrid, and I think he was in Madrid, it is piracy. Access to the content to watch the Champions League in Spain has to be through Movistar Television. To see that content he had to have a VPN (virtual private network necessary to propagate the signal), or a satellite dish directed to another place. There has to be active conduct outside the scope of Movistar. He was pirating the match. It has been communicated that next time they should not pirate the match.”

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  WHAT NEXT?

  In Vinicius’ absence, Madrid lost 2-0 to Liverpool and they will aim to bounce back against Getafe in La Liga this weekend.