No Broadcaster For FIFA World Cup 2026 In India. Legal Petition Adds Drama

The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Centre and Prasar Bharati on a petition seeking directions to ensure that the FIFA World Cup 2026 is broadcast in India, especially through free-to-air public platforms such as Doordarshan and DD Sports. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav issued notice to the respondents while hearing the writ petition filed by advocate Avdhesh Bairwa under Article 226 of the Constitution. The petition states that despite the FIFA World Cup 2026 being scheduled from June 11 to July 19, 2026, no broadcaster in India has acquired the media rights for the tournament so far. It argues that this may deprive millions of football fans across the country from watching one of the biggest sporting events in the world. According to the plea, FIFA had initially valued the India broadcasting rights package for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups at around USD 100 million. However, due to lack of interest from broadcasters, the value was later reduced to nearly USD 35 million. The petition claims that even after the reduction, no final agreement has been reached.

The plea says the FIFA World Cup has already been notified as a "sporting event of national importance" under the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007. It argues that once such a notification has been issued, the government and Prasar Bharati are under an obligation to ensure that the event is made available to the public.

The petition also highlights India's large football audience and refers to FIFA data showing that India was among the top global engagement markets during the FIFA World Cup 2022. It further states that Prasar Bharati has the infrastructure to broadcast the tournament through DD Sports, DD Free Dish and its WAVES OTT platform.

The petitioner has argued that failure to broadcast the tournament would violate citizens' rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution, including the right to receive information through television and public broadcasting platforms.

Senior Advocate Vaibhav Gaggar appeared for the petitioner along with advocates Ankit Konwar, Avdhesh Bairwa, Subhashni Kumari, Prateek Singh, Nishi Rathore, Nishi Kashyap, Abhishek Nair, Akash Kumar and Arpit Pandey.