Women’s World Cup: for lack of a satisfactory offer, Fifa threatens not to broadcast the matches in Europe

2023-05-02 13:19:20

What if France were deprived of the Women’s World Cup? As we explained to you this Saturday, French broadcasters and Fifa, organizer of the 2023 World Cup (from July 20 to August 20 in Australia and New Zealand) have still not reached an agreement on TV rights. A situation that has lasted for months and whose outcome remains very uncertain less than 100 days from the start of the competition.

Monday, during round tables in the premises of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva (Switzerland), Gianni Infantino gave his version of the facts. “The offers from broadcasters, mainly those from the European “Big 5” (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, England), are always very disappointing and simply not acceptable”, assures the president of Fifa, who puts forward several arguments.

“First, 100% of the rights are intended for women’s football, he begins. Second, public broadcasters in particular have a duty to promote and invest in women’s sport. Third, the audiences for the Women’s World Cup are about 50-60% of those for the Men’s World Cup. And yet, the broadcasters’ offers are 20 to 100 times lower. Lately, where broadcasters offer 100 to 200 million dollars for the Men’s World Cup, they only offer 1 to 10 million dollars for the women’s. »

France Télévisions as a saviour?

Gianni Infantino appears as a great defender of the cause of women’s football and evokes a “slap in the face of all players and women in general”. “To be very clear, he concludes, it is a moral and legal obligation not to underestimate this World Cup. If the offers continue to be unfair, we will be forced not to broadcast the Women’s World Cup in these European Big 5 countries”.

For the first time in history, the Women’s World Cup is modeled on the male model (32 nations, 64 matches). According to our information, FIFA demanded from French broadcasters between 15 and 20 million euros for the entire competition. But none of the players (TF1, M 6, BeIN Sports, Canal +, France Télévisions) is ready to invest such a sum for matches in the heart of summer in France and for matches broadcast in the morning (the matches of Bleues would take place at noon).

For them, the investment seems too risky at a time of year when audiences are low and advertisers are absent. In France, the savior could be called France Télévisions, pushed by the Élysée.