With barely a month left for the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Indian football fans are still unsure where they will be able to watch the tournament. The uncertainty has now reached the Delhi High Court, which on Monday issued a notice to the Center and Prasar Bharati seeking directions to ensure the World Cup is broadcast in India, particularly through free-to-air platforms like Doordarshan and DD Sports.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav issued the notice while hearing a plea filed by advocate Avdhesh Bairwa under Article 226 of the Constitution. The plea states that despite the tournament running from June 11 to July 19, no broadcaster in India has yet officially acquired the media rights, raising fears that millions of soccer fans could miss out on the world’s biggest sporting event.
The petition also pointed out that the FIFA World Cup was already classified as a “sporting event of national importance” under the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007. According to the plea, this places an obligation on the authorities to ensure public access to the tournament.
This matter becomes even more prominent considering the massive football audience in India.
During the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, India has reportedly become one of the largest global engagement markets for FIFA despite not qualifying for the tournament. The plea further alleged that Prasar Bharati already owns the infrastructure required to telecast the competition through DD Sports, DD Free Dish and the WAVES OTT platform.
The petitioner also claimed that by not ensuring the broadcast, the rights of citizens would be violated under Article 14, Article 19 paragraph 1 letter a) and Article 21 of the Constitution, including the right to access information through public broadcasting platforms.
INDIA WITHOUT BROADCASTING FIFA WORLD CUP 2026
The biggest reason for the current stalemate appears to be the difference between FIFA’s valuation and what Indian broadcasters are willing to pay.
According to reports mentioned in the lawsuit, FIFA initially valued India’s broadcast package for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups at nearly US$100 million. This amount was later reportedly reduced to around US$35 million following lack of interest from broadcasters.
Even after the reduction, however no deal was made.
Commercial complications surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup have also made things more complicated than usual. With the United States, Canada and Mexico hosting the tournament, most of the matches are expected to start in the late night and early morning hours in India.
This significantly affects advertising value and viewership projections for broadcasters who have already invested in cricket real estate.
The overall sports broadcasting market in India has also changed drastically over the last few years, with broadcasters becoming increasingly wary of expensive non-cricket rights deals.
The result is a bizarre situation where one of the world’s biggest sporting events still has no confirmed Indian broadcaster barely weeks before kick-off.
WILL INDIA GET TO WATCH THE 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP?
Despite the uncertainty, The All India Football Federation remains confident that a solution will eventually be found.
AIFF Deputy General Secretary M Satyanarayan recently said that the size of the Indian market makes it extremely difficult for FIFA or broadcasters to completely ignore the country.
However, the federation has also made it clear that it cannot directly intervene in business negotiations, as its role is limited to governing football rather than handling media rights deals.
The AIFF also pointed to India’s growing appetite for football, highlighting that Indian fans constituted the largest traveling fan base among non-qualifying nations during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
However, the fans are still waiting.
With the opening match less than a month away, the window for progression, schedule and technical preparation is shrinking fast. Despite the uncertainty, however, there is still an expectation in Indian football circles that FIFA and the broadcasters will eventually reach a compromise rather than allow the tournament to disappear from one of the world’s biggest sporting markets.
– The end
Issued by:
Debodinna Chakraborty
Published on:
12 May 2026 17:55 IST
