International broadcaster Eleven Sports has announced that ‘for the time being’ it will reluctantly no longer show soccer matches during the UK’s Saturday afternoon blackout period.

Eleven, which operates as an over-the-top (OTT) streaming service in the UK, has come under fire for breaking the Football Association (FA) law which prohibits games on Saturdays between 2.45pm and 5.15pm from being broadcast live in the country in order to protect match attendances in its domestic leagues.

However, Eleven defied Article 48.2 of the Uefa statutes for the first time on 29th September when it showed the La Liga clash between Spanish champions Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, which kicked off at 3.15pm. The broadcaster then aired Getafe’s game against Levante one week later.

The Premier League reportedly voiced its concern about Eleven’s actions to the FA, but the broadcaster’s stance was backed by Spanish soccer’s top flight, whose chief communications officer Joris Evers described the UK blackout as being “from a different age”.

However, Eleven says it has now hesitantly bowed to pressure from English soccer authorities ‘out of respect for the wishes of our partners’, but vowed to continue to fight the blackout law which has stood in the UK since the 1950s.

‘Fans in the UK should have the freedom and the choice to watch these games legally through the official rights holder, as they do all over the world,’ said an official statement issued by Eleven. ‘Regrettably, intense pressure from stakeholders within the football establishment means that football fans across the country do not have this option.

‘With the best interests of football fans at heart, we are currently considering all legal and regulatory options, including the referral of the case to the appropriate authorities.’

Eleven maintained that the blackout is ‘unfit for the modern, digital era’, particularly with regards to the overseas games which the network holds rights to, which includes Italian soccer’s Serie A and the Dutch Eredivisie alongside La Liga. The company also said that the blackout is one of the main contributors to the illegal distribution of live streams during games.

‘The blackout is one of the biggest generators of piracy in the UK,’ the statement continued. ‘These games are very easily accessed on illegal sites online and it is naïve to think that fans do not watch them because they are not shown on legitimate platforms, except betting sites.

‘It is irresponsible to leave the market in the hands of criminals.’