Europe’s top football nations face broadcast blackouts for this year women’s world cup Unless media organizations improve their “disappointing” offers for rights, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.
The proposals from the “Big Five” European nations – Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany and France – were not acceptable to football’s world governing body, and a “slap in the face” of the players and “all the women around the world”, Infantino said. .
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“To be absolutely clear, it is our moral and legal obligation not to undermine the FIFA Women’s World Cup,” Infantino said at a World Trade Organization meeting in Geneva.
“Therefore, should the proposals not be fair, we would be forced not to broadcast the FIFA Women’s World Cup in the ‘Big Five’ European countries.”
The World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, begins on July 20.
Infantino said that broadcasters had only offered between $1 million and $10m USD for the rights, compared to $100m-$200m for rights to the Men’s World Cup.
Women’s World Cup matches for European markets would be held outside prime time viewing hours due to time zone differences, but Infantino said this was not an excuse.
“Maybe … it’s not played at prime time in Europe, but still, it’s played at 9 or 10 in the morning, so it’s a pretty reasonable time,” he said.
Around 1.12 billion viewers watched the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France across all platforms, according to a FIFA audit of the tournament.
