For years, football fans across Vietnam seeking free, easily accessible streams of major European leagues with localized commentary knew precisely where to look. Platforms like "Xoi Lac TV" and its extensive web of sister sites served as the go-to destinations for unauthorized broadcasts of the English Premier League and other top-tier competitions. Whenever internet service providers and regulatory authorities managed to block a domain, the operators simply migrated to a fresh web address, maintaining an uninterrupted service that drew millions of eager viewers.
Behind the scenes, however, these illicit free streams were far from a casual operation; they functioned as a lucrative commercial enterprise. Prominent betting banners were plastered across the user interface during every single match, generating substantial advertising revenue for the network’s masterminds. This profitable business model eventually caught the attention of Vietnam’s cybercrime police, who launched a coordinated series of raids in February, leading to initial criminal charges against 30 individuals a month later.
What initially appeared to be a significant domestic enforcement action has since blossomed into a massive legal case of international significance. Last week, law enforcement authorities in Hung Yen province officially concluded their extensive investigation, submitting a formal request to prosecutors to charge a staggering 74 individuals connected to the pirate streaming syndicate.
A Massive Piracy Operation Featuring Professional Commentators
The conclusions of the police investigation, as detailed by prominent domestic outlets such as Dan Tri and VnExpress, paint a picture of a sophisticated, highly organized network comprising two closely linked piracy operations. The primary pirate portal, "90 Phut," was established in late 2018. According to investigators, Hanoi technology entrepreneur Pham Nguyen Dung provided the initial financial backing, while programmer Nguyen Cong Dinh engineered the underlying code, with the two men agreeing to split the resulting profits.
By the time law enforcement cracked down on the infrastructure in February, the syndicate had expanded rapidly, operating platforms under the names XoilacTV, 90PhutTV, VeboTV, ThapcamTV, BanhkhucTV, and CakeoTV. Concurrently, Dinh maintained a separate network known as "Cakhia" in partnership with another defendant.
The 74 suspects named in the final police recommendations include a wide array of administrative and technical personnel. Among them are more than 30 Vietnamese commentators who provided the distinctive, localized play-by-play commentary that helped drive the platforms’ popularity. These commentators were reportedly compensated on a per-match basis, receiving between 200,000 and 500,000 Vietnamese dong—roughly equivalent to $8 to $20 USD—per game. Other defendants were tasked with managing technical infrastructure, server maintenance, video streaming operations, and financial accounting.
The commentary itself served as a central pillar of the network’s brand loyalty. The most popular commentators adopted colorful pseudonyms such as "Batman" and "Scarecrow." Investigators ultimately unmasked "Batman" as Dinh, the programmer and co-founder, who allegedly amassed more than 12 billion dong—approximately $470,000 USD—directly from the operation’s proceeds.
The police investigation revealed that the syndicate’s suite of websites unlawfully streamed 1,529 matches without authorization, infringing upon the exclusive intellectual property rights of the Premier League and domestic broadcasting partners. Simultaneously, the sites generated millions in advertising revenue by promoting illicit offshore betting brands, including 8XBET, LU88, Man88, and HBET.
Vietnamese law enforcement estimates that these unauthorized gambling advertisements brought in upwards of 130 billion dong—roughly $5 million USD—between April 2025 and January 2026. Meanwhile, commercial rightsholders have reported financial damages that far exceed the advertising revenues pocketed by the operators.
Vietnam’s pay-TV provider K+, which holds official regional licensing rights, has preliminarily estimated its financial losses at more than $83 million USD. The Premier League, which licenses its valuable broadcasting rights to K+ for the Vietnamese market, estimates its own losses at upwards of $4.6 million USD. These financial figures and damage assessments will face formal judicial scrutiny and final confirmation during the eventual court trial.
Gambling Charges Carry the Greatest Legal Weight
The 74 defendants recommended for prosecution face a diverse slate of criminal charges under Vietnam’s legal framework, including copyright infringement, organizing gambling, gambling, and the distribution of obscene material. Out of the total group, 51 individuals—including the alleged masterminds Dung and Dinh—have been recommended for prosecution on both copyright infringement and the more severe charge of organizing gambling.
While the websites gained notoriety primarily for massive digital piracy, the gambling-related charges carry vastly heavier legal consequences. Under Vietnam’s Penal Code, the statutory penalty for copyright infringement is strictly capped at a maximum of three years in prison, regardless of how much profit the illegal enterprise generated. In stark contrast, organizing gambling as a professional, large-scale operation carries potential prison sentences of up to ten years.
This legal distinction means that the illegal betting advertisements displayed on the pirate streaming portals will likely form the foundation of the longest prison sentences handed down in the case. However, the legal process remains ongoing, and no verdicts have been finalized.
In Vietnam’s judicial procedure, police conclude an investigation by issuing a comprehensive written report alongside a formal proposal to prosecute. This stage marks the transition of the case files to the prosecutor’s office, which now has up to 30 days to review the evidence, issue formal indictments, return the file to investigators for supplemental work, or drop the case entirely.
Gratitude From London and Scrutiny From Washington
The high-profile crackdown on the Xoi Lac network has resonated far beyond Vietnam’s borders, drawing both diplomatic praise and intense international trade scrutiny. In May, Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security publicly announced that the British Embassy in Hanoi had transmitted an official letter expressing gratitude for the enforcement action. According to the ministry, the letter commended the aggressive enforcement efforts undertaken to safeguard international intellectual property rights.
At the same time, authorities in Washington remained skeptical regarding the broader systemic enforcement landscape within the country. At the end of April, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) formally designated Vietnam as a "Priority Foreign Country" due to persistent concerns over widespread online piracy—marking the first time any nation had received that specific negative label in thirteen years.
Just a month following that designation, the USTR initiated a formal Section 301 investigation into Vietnam’s intellectual property enforcement practices, a legal mechanism that carries the ultimate threat of trade tariffs. The USTR noted that while Vietnam had demonstrated sporadic enforcement steps, widespread online infringement continued to severely impair the competitive standing of United States innovators and creators.
Although the initial Xoi Lac raids occurred shortly before the USTR’s announcement, Vietnam has actively leveraged the crackdown as part of its diplomatic and legal defense. Government officials cited the Xoi Lac arrests, alongside simultaneous actions targeting other major piracy operations such as Rophim and Y2Mate, in their official July rebuttal submitted to Washington, urging the U.S. government to remove Vietnam from the priority watch list.
Vietnam’s formal response to the U.S. trade pressure also highlighted the ongoing criminal proceedings in the HiAnime piracy case. The Ministry of Public Security officially announced criminal charges against seven suspects connected to HiAnime on July 2, coinciding precisely with the date Vietnam filed its defense arguments in Washington.
Whether the recent decision to recommend prosecution for 74 individuals in the Xoi Lac case was influenced by ongoing international pressure remains a matter of speculation. The immediate next steps rest entirely with prosecutors as they evaluate the massive evidentiary files. Meanwhile, a simple online search for "xoi lac" and its numerous associated derivative brands continues to yield a lengthy roster of copycat websites, whose anonymous operators persist in streaming live sports to millions of viewers.
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