The upcoming revamped FIFA Club World Cup is still without a free-to-air partner in the UK, as BBC and ITV both confirmed they backed out of a deal.
A report from The Guardian revealed that the BBC declined to enter negotiations with FIFA as there were proposals for the national broadcaster to promote DAZN as the streaming platform obtained global broadcasting rights for the competition.
DAZN’s $1bn broadcast deal to showcase the 32-team competition enabled the streaming platform to sublicense games to free-to-air broadcasters. However, it is believed that BBC officials objected to the potential inclusion of promoting DAZN as it is a traditional broadcast service that does not advertise during its broadcast feeds.
Unlike the BBC, ITV does broadcast adverts and did offer to broadcast the Club World Cup for free in a bid to enhance its visibility to UK audiences, but DAZN was able to gain global rights and there is now a growing loss of interest from ITV to broadcast the competition.
Despite the lack of interest from BBC and ITV, DAZN and FIFA are reportedly confident in finding a free-to-air broadcast partner in the UK by the time the Club World Cup starts in June.
Channel 4 and Channel 5 are both reportedly candidates for the role, with both broadcasters having previously showcased the competition in its former format.
The new 32-team knockout format of the Club World Cup has caused controversy amongst footballers, coaches and media members since it was announced a few years back.
Starting in June, which is typically reserved for player rest as it is the start of preseason for a majority of players, the tournament has been criticised for adding more games unnecessarily to an already congested football schedule.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin recently spoke out on the new Club World Cup format, criticising the proposed 64-team 2030 FIFA World Cup, labelling it a “bad idea”.
“The Club World Cup is happening, and that’s it,” said Ceferin. “The clubs from Europe wanted it and I don’t see this as competition to our competition.
“It will be more matches for some of the players, but maybe that’s more of a question for my dear colleague Gianni Infantino.”
