The head coach of Germany's national football team has told DW that FIFA's threat of a TV blackout of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Europe's "Big Five" nations left her "speechless."
Speaking to DW at an event in Berlin to promote the upcoming Women's World Cup, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said she could not understand how world football's governing body and broadcasters in key European countries had been unable to strike a deal to show the games on live television, saying "for me, there is no alternative. There has to be a deal."
A 'slap in the face'
Voss-Tecklenburg’s comments came after FIFA President Gianni Infantino told a World Trade Organization meeting in Geneva that offers for the broadcast rights for the tournament from the five countries, understood to be Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain, had been unacceptably low. Infantino said offers for the rights had been between 20 and 100 times lower than the sums paid in deals to broadcast the men’s World Cup. He went on to describe these bids as "a slap in the face of all the great FIFA Women’s World Cup players and indeed of all women worldwide" and said FIFA had a "moral and legal obligation not to undersell the FIFA Women’s World Cup."
Infantino's statement has been criticized by former FIFA Council member Moya Dodd, who said FIFA itself had created the problem by bundling the rights for previous Women’s World Cup tournaments in packages tied to the men’s version of the event. Dodd said the practice had effectively trained the industry to "pay big money for the men's World Cup and treat the women’s equivalent as worthless."
For the first time, FIFA has put the men's and women's event up for tender separately.
'The worst signal'
Now Voss-Tecklenburg has called on both FIFA and broadcasters to find a solution, stressing that a failure of the two sides to come to a deal would be "absolutely the wrong signal, the worst signal that we could give at this time."
While the Germany coach avoided blaming either party for the situation, she did make her frustration clear, saying: "I’m sorry, but I’m speechless, because I don’t understand why they can’t come to an agreement."
If deals aren't reached in the coming few weeks, it is possible that viewers in the five European countries affected would be able to watch games via streams. However, Voss-Tecklenburg argued that this would still negatively impact the success of the event in Europe, as "it's about the significance of the tournament. It’s about visibility. It’s about millions of fans. It's also about those from older generations who want to watch football."
Rights packages in various other major markets were secured several years ago. FIFA announced agreements with stations in host countries Australia and New Zealand in June and July of 2021. In the United States, Fox's deal for the rights to FIFA men's and women's events up to 2026 was signed all the way back in 2015. A deal is also in place that covers most European countries beyond the "Big Five."
Growing interest
Women’s football has experienced an explosion in popularity in recent years, with Europe at the heart of this growth. In April 2022, some 91,000 fans attended Barcelona's Champion's League semifinal clash with Wolfsburg in Spain. In July more than 87,000 filled London's Wembley Stadium for the final of the European Championship, as hosts England beat Germany to secure their first ever title. All three of these countries are among those threatened with a TV blackout.
One reason mooted for the discrepancy between FIFA's expectations and the actual sums offered by broadcasters is the time difference. New Zealand's North Island, including host cities Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton, is 12 hours ahead of UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), putting it 10-11 hours ahead of the "Big Five." Most games will kick off in the evening local time, which equates to late morning in Europe, far from prime-time slots and coinciding with working hours for many people.
But Voss-Tecklenburg is confident that fans will find a way to watch the games despite the inconvenience.
"On other continents it’s often the case that games aren't on in prime time, so we have to live with that," she said.
"I have this image in my head of kids watching together at school, perhaps even as a part of a lesson. Or that employers will let people extend their morning break so they can watch the football."
'Appeal for sanity'
With less than three months to go before the Women’s World Cup kicks off on July 20, Voss-Tecklenburg remains hopeful that a TV deal can still be reached.
"I can only appeal for sanity, and for all parties involved to find a way," she said.
Her thoughts were echoed by former Germany defender Nia Künzer, who was also at the Berlin event. The scorer of the winning goal in the 2003 Women’s World Cup final told DW: "For everyone, not just for women’s football, but also the viewers at home, we can only hope they reach an agreement."
Source: Deutsche Welle