FIFA President Gianni Infantino has issued a warning to major European countries, threatening to blackout the broadcast of the Women’s World Cup unless broadcasters improve their offers for rights. The tournament is set to be held in Australia and New Zealand between July 20 and August 20 this year. Infantino previously criticized the broadcasters in October for offering “100 times less” to screen the Women’s World Cup compared to the men’s tournament.
According to Infantino, FIFA is yet to sell rights for the tournament to some major markets. In a statement, FIFA said, “The offers from broadcasters, mainly in the ‘Big Five’ European countries, are still very disappointing.” Infantino accused broadcasters of offering between $1 million and $10 million to show the Women’s World Cup, whereas they pay $100-200 million for the men’s version. The five countries thought to be involved are Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Infantino has called for a “fair price” for media rights, stressing that the revenue will go back into women’s football to help grow the game. He said that the broadcasters’ offers are a “slap in the face of all the great FIFA Women’s World Cup players and indeed of all women worldwide,” and it is FIFA’s “moral and legal obligation not to undersell the FIFA Women’s World Cup.”
Despite the time difference, Infantino stated that matches played at 9:00 am or 10:00 am in Australia and New Zealand were still at a “reasonable time” and should be considered as such.
He made it clear that if broadcasters’ offers continued to be unfair, FIFA would be forced not to broadcast the Women’s World Cup into the “Big Five” European countries. Infantino’s move comes in the hopes of supporting women’s football and promoting gender equality in the sport.
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