No FIFA World Cup in India? Doordarshan distances itself from the battle over broadcasting rights

ByTech Word News

With barely weeks to go before the FIFA World Cup 2026 kicks off on June 12, Indian football fans are still unsure where they will be able to watch the tournament. And now public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has officially distanced itself from the lingering uncertainty over the broadcast, telling the Delhi High Court that it is “not responsible” for acquiring the World Cup rights in India.

The submissions were made before Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav during the hearing of a petition seeking directions to secure The 2026 FIFA World Cup is broadcast in India by public broadcaster Prasar Bharati. The plea specifically pushed for free telecast of key matches, including the opening match, quarter-final, semi-final and final through platforms like Doordarshan and DD Sports.

The matter turned sour again on May 19 after the petitioner’s counsel, Avdhesh Bairwa, sought permission to withdraw the petition with an option to approach another competent court for appropriate relief.

The Delhi High Court had earlier issued a notice to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Prasar Bharati on May 12 after concerns were raised over the shocking possibility that India could head into the World Cup without an official broadcaster.

And frankly, this option is still bizarre to the Indian football audience.

During the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, India has reportedly become one of the world’s largest engagement markets for FIFA, despite not even qualifying for the tournament. According to court filings, the Indian audience generated nearly 745.7 million interactions during the competition.

Despite this scale of involvement, no operator has yet officially secured India’s media rights for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

According to the suit, FIFA initially valued India’s package of rights for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups at nearly US$100 million, then lowered the asking price to around US$35 million after limited interest from broadcasters. The reports mentioned in the petition also claimed that the USD 20 million offer from JioStar was rejected.

The petitioner argued that failure to televise the tournament would effectively deprive Indian citizens of access to one of the world’s biggest sporting events, even though the FIFA World Cup is already classified as a “sporting event of national importance” under the Sports Broadcasting Signals Act, 2007.

Senior advocate Vaibhav Gaggar appeared for the petitioners, while the suit itself was filed through a legal team from Hammurabi & Solomon Partners.

WHY INDIA STILL HAS NO BROADCAST FOR FIFA WORLD 2026

The current impasse is largely due to a trade dispute between FIFA and Indian broadcasters. While the World Cup remains one of the biggest sporting events worldwide, broadcasters in India seem reluctant to spend big on the tournament, where most of the matches will be telecast in the late night and early morning hours, due to the hosting schedule in the US, Canada and Mexico.

Several main reasons behind the delay have now emerged:

  • FIFA initially valued India’s 2026 and 2030 World Cup rights package at nearly US$100 million
  • The valuation was later reportedly reduced to around US$35 million after weak interest from broadcasters
  • USD 20 million offer from JioStar was rejected
  • Most of the World Cup matches are expected to start at inconvenient times for the Indian television audience
  • Broadcasters have already invested heavily in expensive cricket real estate and IPL rights
  • Sports networks have become increasingly cautious about major non-cricket investments in recent years
  • No broadcaster has officially finalized the Indian media rights, despite the tournament starting on 12 June

This combination has now created a truly bizarre situation where one of the most watched sporting events in the world still does not have a confirmed Indian broadcaster just weeks before kick-off. And with each passing day, the pressure on planning, promotion, technical preparation and public access increases.

WILL INDIAN FANS STILL GET TO WATCH THE WC?

Despite the uncertainty, there remains optimism in Indian football circles that a solution will eventually emerge before the start of the tournament.

The AIFF has already acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, although the federation has clarified that it cannot directly intervene in commercial negotiations regarding broadcasting rights.

AIFF Deputy General Secretary M Satyanarayan recently pointed out that the Indian football market is simply too big for FIFA or the broadcasters to completely ignore for long.

And that remains the biggest reason why fans still expect some form of compromise to happen eventually.

Because allowing the FIFA World Cup to disappear from one of the world’s biggest sporting audiences would not only be commercially embarrassing. It would also be almost impossible to justify how fast football consumption has grown in India over the last decade.

For now, however, Indian football fans are left waiting as the countdown to June 12 continues to shorten.

– The end

Issued by:

Debodinna Chakraborty

Published on:

20 May 2026 20:28 IST