The Women’s World Cup faces a potential TV blackout for this summer’s tournament in the UK, Spain, Italy, Germany and France after FIFA president Gianni Infantino threatened to withhold rights over what he said where insufficient bids.
Infantino, speaking Tuesday at the World Trade Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, said it was the soccer governing body’s “moral and legal obligation not to undersell” the tournament, set for July 20-August 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
“Therefore, should the offers continue not to be fair, we will be forced not to broadcast the FIFA Women’s World Cup into the ‘Big 5’ European countries,” Infantino said, drawing a line in the sand despite FIFA’s media rights agreements with 156 other nations and territories.
Prize money will notably increase for this year’s tournament by 300% to $150 million from 2019, which was won by the U.S.
“The offers from broadcasters, mainly in the ‘Big 5’ European countries, are still very disappointing and simply not acceptable based on four criteria,” Infantino said.
Infantino contrasted broadcasters deals for the men’s 2022 tournament in Qatar, which he said reached $100 million to $200 million, with offers for this year’s women’s event, which range from $1 million to $10 million — a “slap in the face of all the great FIFA Women’s World Cup players and indeed of all women worldwide.”
