Fans in Ireland are set to be blocked from watching live Premier League matches on illegal streaming sites from the 2019/20 season following a court order, reports, www.sportspromedia.com/.

As reported by The Irish Times a ruling in the country's Commercial Court granted Football Association Premier League Ltd, Ireland's first ever order compelling internet service providers (ISPs) to block pirate streams of matches from English soccer's top flight.

The order is against companies including Eircom/Eir, Sky Ireland, Virgin Media, Ireland and Vodafone Ireland.

The Premier League initiated legal proceedings in Ireland against the country's five major ISPs at the start of July, in a move aimed at clamping down on the illegal streaming of its matches after obtaining similar orders in the UK last year.

The latest ruling means that illegal streams will now be targeted for disabling in real time using advanced anti-piracy technology, making it possible to block feeds across several platforms and apps "in one blow", the court heard.

Jonathan Newman, representing the Premier League, added that the IP addresses of illegitimate streaming hosts will be updated at least twice during games so that the blocking can be enabled. This means it will be possible to respond to illegal streams "within minutes", he said.