The Yemeni Football Association has sparked a new crisis after issuing a stern official warning to several digital platforms and Facebook pages that broadcast league matches without obtaining legal licenses.

This move came following extensive monitoring of illegal broadcasts that affected the matches of the first and second rounds, where dozens of pages and channels were discovered streaming the games in high quality by stealing the original signal.

Sources revealed that the federation did not stop at issuing warnings but officially contacted Meta's management to take immediate action against these pages, hinting at potential legal pursuits within the country against the violators.

In an escalatory move, the union began negotiations with a tech company specializing in digital broadcast protection, relying on "digital fingerprint" technologies capable of shutting down any illegal broadcast within seconds.

This approach aims to protect the rights of broadcasting channels, primarily "Hadramout Channel" and "Al-Saeeda Channel," which have been severely affected by the decline in viewership and advertisements due to free broadcasting.

Reports indicated that the channels holding the rights have lost a significant portion of their digital audience, prompting them to pressure the federation to take strict measures to ensure the protection of their investments.

The decision sparked widespread debate in the sports community, with opinions divided between supporters who see the move as the beginning of organizing the football market, and opponents who demand that matches be made available to the public for free.

In contrast, some pages quickly deleted their previous content for fear of penalties, while other platforms are attempting to circumvent the new monitoring systems by altering their broadcasting methods.