2023-05-26 15:32:25
It’s a war of nerves. Discussions between the International Football Federation (Fifa) and the television channels of several European countries, including France, remain at a standstill, less than two months before the start of the Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. and in Australia (July 20 to August 20). In question, the refusal of broadcasters to accept the financial requests demanded by Fifa (between 8 and 10 million euros, according to AFP).
A high level of concern
To date, France, Italy, Spain, England and Germany, the top 5 in European football, have not found a broadcaster. At the beginning of May, the president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, judged, through his Instagram accountoffers “very disappointing and simply unacceptable”. The latter then referred to a “slaps all the great players and all the women in the world”.
Words that do not convince those concerned. “I heard Gianni Infantino talking a lot about money, that it was not enough, explains the former Norwegian Golden Ball Ada Hegerberg. Is it really all about the money all the time? I’m wondering. We have to find the best solution for everyone’s benefit. The huge World Cup figures in France show that the desire to watch it is there. »
Same story with French international Eugénie Le Sommer: “Women’s football has entered a new era, we must follow, take the right wagon, explains the Olympique Lyonnais striker. I would have preferred to talk about the World Cup in another way, not because the television rights have not yet been awarded. They have to be. »
Broadcasters don’t want to pay the price
Criticizing the overvaluation of the competition on the part of Fifa, the broadcasters have their foot on the brake. “Unlike the 2019 edition which took place in France from June to July, this 2023 edition comes later in the calendar, at a time when advertisers are less present”, confides a manager of the TF1 group who mentions the insufficient return on investment.
Added to this argument is the time difference between the European countries concerned and the host countries of the competition, Australia and New Zealand. “With games at 10 a.m., we would have a hard time finding the audience of 2019.”
Towards a European broadcaster?
A 2004 European decree on freedom of communication lists 21 sporting events protected by unencrypted broadcasting, including the Olympic Games and the Men’s Football World Cup. Never changed since, this list does not include the Women’s World Cup. A consultation was launched in January 2022 by the sports and culture ministries with the aim of integrating the female equivalents of the listed competitions.
“It’s an old sea serpent, considers, several months later, Régis Juanico, former deputy of the Loire and president of a parliamentary information mission. Commitments and promises from different governments have followed one another since 2004, but we still do not see the publication of a new decree. »
Among the avenues mentioned, within this mission, was the idea of pooling rights on a European scale. “On a certain number of events, where we are in difficulty, with a deficit of coverage and retransmission, it would be necessary to be able to make agreements between the public services of the different countries to pool the costs and allow a common diffusion”, explained to Régis Juanico.
But even if this new decree were to come out soon, “that would only cover part of the problems” of the next Women’s World Cup. « There is never any formal obligation for broadcasters, he recalls. If BeIN Sports buys the rights, they can broadcast it but they are obliged to resell the rights to a free-to-air broadcaster (through excerpts or replays of matches, in particular, Ed), because it is on unencrypted broadcasting that the decree rests. Never on the obligation to purchase in itself. So if no one wants to give in to FIFA’s demands, no one will broadcast. »
The Minister of Sports is committed
According to a senatorial source, however, the case seems able to be settled. “According to my information, the decree has been sent to the European Commissionsays a senator. But the latter does not want to make a fuss about it, because they do not want certain lobbies to interfere with the negotiation. »
Invited on May 21 in the program “Political Questions” on France Inter, the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castéra was reassuring by taking “the commitment that there will indeed be a retransmission”. The manager assured that there was still time to negotiate. Less than two months, therefore.
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