During a meeting of the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Gianni Infantino, president of Fifa, warned: it is possible that Europe will not be able to attend the Women’s World Cup. The reason ? The offers to buy the broadcasting rights would be, he said, “ridiculously low”.
Disrespect for women’s sport
The sports leader did not hesitate to nail France, Spain, England, Germany and Italy. Complaint extremely low offers compared to what is usually offered for men’s sportrefering to ” a real affront to the fine players of the FIFA World Cup and women around the world ».
On Instagram Gianni Infantino returned to the details of this gap. He says he has received offers ranging from 1 million to 10 million dollars for the broadcasting rights, against offers of 100 to 200 million usually for the men’s World Cup, as explained by our colleagues at the Keeper. Italy would have made the lowest offer.
To be very clear, it is our moral and legal obligation not to sell out the Women’s World Cup. […] For this reason, if the offers continue to be so unfair, we will be forced not to broadcast matches in these 5 major European powers. […] Viewership figures for the FIFA Women’s World Cup are 50-60% of the figures for the Men’s World Cup (which is FIFA’s most broadcast event). Yet the offers of broadcasters from these 5 countries for the Women’s World Cup are 20 to 100 times lower than for the Men’s World Cup.»
Gianni Infantino, reported in the Guardian
If Europe defended itself by explaining that with the time difference, matches would be broadcast at off-peak times, which would necessarily generate fewer viewers, Infantino considered this explanation inadmissible, pointing out that many matches will start on the stroke of 9 or 10 o’clock of the morning.
Towards better visibility of women’s sport on French TV?
In France, only 5% of all sports broadcasts on French television are dedicated to women’s sports. Even the minister of sport, Amélie Ouéda-Castéra, had convened a commission at the beginning of March, evoking in particular possible solutions to remedy this aberrant imbalance.
A ” decree on events of major importance “, aiming to protect these programs with an unencrypted transmission, guaranteeing free access to the greatest number of viewers, would also be under discussion for a few months. In the columns of Parisianthe Minister had already praised its merits a few months earlier: “Strengthening the protection of French women’s football and rugby team matches and that of the women’s Tour de France”. This decree, which has yet to pass through the European authorities, is expected to come into force in the autumn of 2023… immediately after the World Cup.
Source: Madmoizelle
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
