The FIFA World Cup 2026 will begin on June 11 in the USA, Mexico and Canada. | Photo Credit: AP

FIFA media rights officials are visiting ⁠India this week, three sources said, ahead of next month’s World Cup for which football’s ruling body has not struck a broadcast ‌deal with India due to differences over pricing. Millions of football fans in India risk not being ‌able to watch the tournament due to a deadlock ‌over ⁠broadcast rights.

China Media Group, the parent of ⁠China’s state broadcaster, agreed a World Cup broadcasting deal last week to end a standoff over TV rights there.

The three sources familiar with FIFA’s ​plans said the media rights ‌executives are in India, though details of who they are meeting and the exact agenda were not clear.

In a statement to Reuters, FIFA said it concluded agreements with ‌broadcasters in over 180 territories and discussions in India ​regarding the sale of media rights were ongoing and “must remain confidential at this stage”.

Discussions between the ⁠ Reliance-Disney joint venture, India’s biggest media company and FIFA have not materialised, and Sony, another big player, has refrained from ‌bidding, Reuters has previously reported. Reliance-Disney joint venture offered $20 million for the FIFA rights. That led to a disagreement because FIFA had initially sought $100 million but was last looking for around $60 million at least, Reuters has reported.

It is not clear if FIFA is meeting with Reliance-Disney joint venture. The ‌venture, led by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance, declined to comment.

The World Cup ​kicks off on June 11, leaving only three weeks for a deal to be finalised, broadcast ⁠infrastructure to be set up and advertising inventory to be sold.

With ⁠about 85 million fans, football is popular in India but lags behind cricket which has 492 million ‌fans, according to a 2024 report from Deloitte and Google.

India accounted for 2.9% of the global linear TV reach ​at the 2022 World Cup.

Published on May 18, 2026