• Broadcasters in France, Spain have submitted a formal complaint to FIFA
• Rightsholders labeled the partnership with ExpressVPN as “disastrous”
• ExpressVPN previously refused to implement sweeping anti-piracy blocking

FIFA’s decision to partner with ExpressVPN for the 2026 World Cup has sparked outrage among top European football broadcasters.

La Liga and French media giants, including LFP Media and Canal+, have formally submitted a complaint to football’s governing body, slamming the new sponsorship as a “disastrous” message to the football ecosystem, according to reports from French sports newspaper L’Equipe.

“La Liga believes that this agreement is manifestly incompatible with the principles of protecting football’s audiovisual rights that should govern the actions of world football’s governing body,” said La Liga president Javier Tebas.

Rightsholders are furious that FIFA would accept sponsorship money from a company they previously targeted with lawsuits for “facilitating access to pirated content,” Tebas added.

In a statement to TechRadar, a spokesperson for ExpressVPN strongly denies such allegations.

“Any suggestion that ExpressVPN has been ‘found guilty’ of facilitating piracy is entirely inaccurate; we have not been convicted of any such conduct in any jurisdiction,” the company told us.

While reiterating that a virtual private network (VPN) is a privacy and security tool — “not a loophole for illegal activities” — ExpressVPN also argues it has already presented a framework to national and EU authorithies to tackle the illegal distribution of copyrighted content, without breaking its no-logs VPN commitment.

For everyday football fans and privacy advocates, this corporate clash highlights the growing tension between rightsholders wanting total control over internet traffic and privacy companies defending open, unrestricted access.

If you are looking to secure your digital footprint, utilizing the best VPN is essential to bypassing unfair network restrictions and ensuring your online activity isn’t monitored by your internet service provider (ISP) or third-party organizations.

A clash of privacy and anti-piracy

In France, organizations like the Association for the Protection of Sports Programs (APPS) have aggressively pursued court orders forcing ISPs and tech companies to block access to pirated streams.

ExpressVPN has historically resisted these demands, refusing to implement network-wide blocks. This staunch defense of an open internet led to the VPN provider being formally condemned in the country, making FIFA’s sponsorship announcement a bitter pill for French broadcasters to swallow.

The situation has escalated similarly in Spain, where La Liga’s president has spearheaded a controversial crusade against illegal streaming. La Liga’s heavy-handed tactics have been heavily criticized by digital rights groups, especially after a recent anti-piracy campaign backfired spectacularly, wrongly blocking over 500,000 legitimate websites in Spain.

The Spanish league has also previously attempted to fine individual users and pressure tech platforms into handing over user data. With La Liga’s war on piracy breaking the internet in Spain, privacy experts have warned that your VPN could be the next target.

Despite the immense legal pressure and the latest formal complaint to FIFA, top VPN providers have consistently argued that enforcing rightsholder site-blocks fundamentally compromises the security and architecture of a privacy service.

In fact, NordVPN recently won a crucial legal battle in Spain over La Liga piracy fines, establishing a major victory for user privacy against copyright holders.

Meanwhile, the climate in France remains incredibly hostile for privacy tools.

Earlier this year, a French court backed the LFP and ordered top VPNs to block illegal football streams. This sweeping injunction set a dangerous precedent, forcing the VPN industry to react to France’s aggressive order to block illegal streaming sites and defend the technical realities of zero-logs infrastructure.