Not our responsibility: Prasar Bharati to Delhi High Court on plea to broadcast FIFA World Cup 2026 in India

Public service broadcaster Prasar Bharati told the Delhi High Court that it is "not responsible" to acquire broadcasting rights of the FIFA World Cup 2026 in India.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav heard these submissions on the petition seeking broadcast of the FIFA World Cup 2026 in India through public broadcaster Prasar Bharati.

The petitioner Advocate Avdhesh Bairwa today sought to withdraw the petition with liberty to approach another competent court for an appropriate remedy.

The Court had issued notice to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) and Prasar Bharati on May 12.

The plea specifically seeks telecast of the opening match, quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final on free-to-air platforms. As a final relief, the petitioner has urged the Court to direct authorities to secure rights for all 104 matches of the tournament.

The FIFA World Cup 2026 will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Bairwa argued that India is among FIFA’s largest viewership markets, citing 745.7 million interactions during the 2022 World Cup.

According to the petition, no broadcaster has yet secured Indian media rights for the tournament. FIFA reportedly reduced its valuation for India’s combined 2026 and 2030 World Cup rights from US$ 100 million to US$ 35 million after limited market interest. A reported US$ 20 million bid by JioStar was allegedly rejected.

The petitioner contended that failure to ensure telecast would deprive Indian citizens of their fundamental right to receive information and access sporting events of national importance. The plea stresses urgency as the tournament begins on June 11.

Arguments for the petitioner were led by Senior Advocate Vaibhav Gaggar.

The plea was filed through a team from Hammurabi & Solomon Partners comprising Advocates Ankit Konwar, Subhashni Kumari, Prateek Singh, Nishi Rathore, Nishi Kashyap, Abhishek Nair, Akash Kumar and Arpit Pandey.