THE EFL has announced the return of a blanket ban on Saturday afternoon games being streamed live on iFollow to domestic viewers.

Before the 2019-20 season was halted due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it was illegal to live broadcast any match in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland between the hours of 2:45pm and 5:15pm on Saturday afternoons to residents of the United Kingdom.

This ban was lifted once the delayed 2020-21 season got underway without fans present and every EFL game became available to watch on iFollow, no matter the kick-off time.

However, the EFL says it has now "returned to its position as was prior to the pandemic" with fans allowed to return to grounds at full capacity for the start of the new season.

Despite the blanket ban being enforced on a Saturday, the EFL says clubs will now be able to live-stream midweek matches though through iFollow or an individual club's equivalent service.

The rule, which is set to allow clubs to live-stream all non-Saturday afternoon matches - unless they are selected by Sky Sports - also relates to postponed weekend matches that are moved to midweek or non-Saturday afternoons, Bank Holiday games, matches that fall on an international weekend, and all EFL Trophy matches before the semi-final stage.

For overseas supporters, the EFL says those fans will still be able to watch all live league and relevant cup games providing "they have not been selected for international television broadcast in a territory that has an overseas broadcast partner."

Meanwhile, TV channel Quest remains the EFL's choice of match highlights partner, with the best bits from all three leagues being shown at 9pm on a Saturday or after the final round of league or cup fixtures in midweek.