• 100 prosecutions planned against publicans
• ‘We will give them opportunity to cease using equipment’

The Premier League has lined up 100 prosecutions as it attempts to prevent pubs and clubs from screening live matches via foreign TV channels.

The league has been building cases against a number of premises in recent months over what it believes are breaches of copyright.

The first prosecution is set to be heard before the end of the month.

It is significantly cheaper for pubs and clubs to pay for foreign channels than it is to subscribe to the Premier League’s official UK broadcasters, Sky Sports and BT Sport. A Premier League spokesman Dan Johnson said: “We have committed to a significant number of visits and over the course of a season we will make approaching 5,000.

“We want to educate and discourage publicans from using these foreign systems.

“We will give the full information and give publicans and licensees the opportunity to cease using the equipment.

“If they choose not to then obviously they run the risk of being prosecuted.”

• Premier League
• Sport TV

theguardian.com