The Delhi High Court on Tuesday summoned the Centre to respond to a plea seeking the time of the broadcasters for the FIFA World Cup 2026 in India in its own behalf, while also reaching out to Prasar Bharati.
Avdhesh Bairwa, the advocates of the youth, called for an interim directive by the court to the central government to obtain broadcasting rights for some of the most important innings in the tournament such as the quarter-finals, semi-finals, final and the opening game using an alternate channel Prasar Bharati. The petition also requested a final direction for the Public broadcaster to pick up the rights for all 104 games of the tournament.
The justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav had issued a notice on the issue and set the date for next hearing as May 20. In the course of the hearing, the court wondered whether the plea would be a public interest litigation (PIL).
Retief represented the petitioner who contended that “citizen access to such a globally important event as a FIFA World Cup should be reasonable. Although access to those broadcasts may not be an absolute right, he said the courts could help bring the government more into line to offer more opportunities for viewing by the public.
The petition said the FIFA World Cup was one of the top spectated sporting events in the world, and takes place every four years. It also asserted that no broadcaster has yet been able to acquire the rights to host the 2026 tournament in India unlike the previous editions since 1998, which would limit viewing of the tournament in the country.
The case has created buzz regarding the public rights of broadcasting major international sporting events and accessibility of such programmes by the Indian audience.