The risk of this year’s Women’s World Cup not being shown by the game’s biggest European nations has been revealed, should “disappointing” bids by the media continue for broadcasting rights.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the offers were unacceptable to FIFA and represented a “slap in the face” to the players and “all women around the world”.
The top five football nations are Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany and France
FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed that some major European countries are threatening not to broadcast the Women’s World Cup this year if the media do not improve their offers to obtain broadcast rights.
Infantino said such offers were “unacceptable” and “a slap in the face” to players and women around the world. He added that it was his moral and legal duty not to underestimate the value of the tournament, and if the shows continued to be unfair, the channel would have to be discontinued in five major European countries. The Women’s World Cup begins on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
The rights to broadcast the men’s World Cup matches represent amounts ranging from 100 to 200 million dollars, while the rights to broadcast the women’s World Cup games cost 10 million dollars or less.
The Women’s World Cup matches will be played outside peak times in Europe due to the time difference, but Infantino said that is no excuse, and that the proposed timing is “very acceptable”. According to FIFA data, the number of viewers for the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France reached about 1.12 billion people via All platforms.
