After the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, warned on May 2 that the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand might not be broadcast in some countries, including Spain, due to the low offers on television, this Wednesday the governments from Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom have issued a joint statement concerned about the situation.
In the declaration published by the Higher Sports Council and signed by the Minister of Culture and Sports of the Government of Spain, Miquel Iceta, the five major European countries have asked the parties involved to mobilize to reach an agreement quickly. "The media exposure of women's sports has a very significant impact on the development of sports practice among women and girls", they highlighted.
Given that potential, the ministers consider it their duty to "fully mobilize" the parties involved, that is, FIFA as the owner of the television rights and the broadcasters as potential buyers of those rights to "quickly reach an agreement."
In their statement, the German minister, Nancy Faeser, the Spanish, Miquel Iceta, the French, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the Italian, Andrea Abody, and the British, Lucy Frazer, show their "concern" that these rights have not been attributed at this point, taking into account that the World Cup will be held from July 20 to August 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
They say they are aware of the "legitimate interests" and budgetary needs for each other. They recognize that broadcasters have to obtain "viable economic models" and that the fact that the competition is going to be held in very different time zones from those in Europe constitutes a challenge for broadcasting in periods of usually low audiences. Although they emphasize that the decision corresponds to them and to FIFA, they insist on their confidence that they will reach a compromise to set a "fair" value for the competition.
In these countries -England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain- the offers were "20 to 100 times lower than the men's World Cup" even when they represent "50-60%" of the audience for the men's tournament. "This is a slap in the face for all the great players at the FIFA Women's World Cup and indeed all the women in the world," Infantino lamented.
A piece of news that endangers the broadcast of the World Cup in Spain, where in the national team some of the players who asked not to be called up in the autumn have sent a letter to the Federation asking to return.
