With just a month left before the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, the absence of an official broadcast partner in India has now reached the courts, sparking fresh concern among millions of football fans across the country.
The Delhi High Court has issued notices to the Centre and Prasar Bharati on a petition seeking directions to ensure the FIFA World Cup 2026 is broadcast in India, particularly through free-to-air public platforms such as DD Sports and Doordarshan.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav issued the notice while hearing a writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution by advocate Avdhesh Bairwa.
The plea highlights that despite the FIFA World Cup 2026 being scheduled from June 11 to July 19, no broadcaster in India has acquired the media rights for the tournament so far, a situation that could potentially leave one of the world’s biggest football audiences without access to the event.
According to the petition, FIFA initially valued the India media rights package for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups at nearly USD 100 million. However, due to a lack of interest from broadcasters, the valuation was reportedly reduced to around USD 35 million, yet no agreement has been finalised.
The plea further states that 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 the government and Prasar Bharati are therefore obligated to make the tournament accessible to the public.
The petition also points to India’s massive football viewership, citing FIFA data that ranked India among the top global engagement markets during the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
It additionally notes that Prasar Bharati already possesses the infrastructure required to telecast the tournament through DD Sports, DD Free Dish and its WAVES OTT platform.
The petitioner has argued that failure to broadcast the World Cup 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, Subhashni Kumari, Prateek Singh, Nishi Rathore, Nishi Kashyap, Abhishek Nair, Akash Kumar and Arpit Pandey.