- May 12, 2026
Delhi HC Issues Notice On Plea Seeking Free Broadcast Of FIFA World Cup 2026 In India
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Delhi High Court issues notice to Centre and Prasar Bharati on plea to ensure FIFA World Cup 2026 is broadcast in India on free to air platforms like Doordarshan and DD Sports
(Credit: AFP)
The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Centre and Prasar Bharati on a petition seeking directions to ensure that the FIFA World Cup 2026 is broadcast in India, particularly through free-to-air public platforms such as Doordarshan and DD Sports.
Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav issued notice to the respondents while hearing a writ petition filed by advocate Avdhesh Bairwa under Article 226 of the Constitution. The petition notes that although the FIFA World Cup 2026 is scheduled from June 11 to July 19, 2026, no broadcaster in India has yet acquired the media rights for the tournament.
The petition contends that this situation may deprive millions of football fans across the country of watching one of the world’s biggest sporting events.
According to the plea, FIFA initially valued the India broadcasting rights package for the 2026 and 2030 World Cups at around USD 100 million. However, due to a lack of interest from broadcasters, the value was later reduced to nearly USD 35 million. The petition claims that even after this reduction, no final agreement has been concluded.
The plea 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 once such a notification is issued, the government and Prasar Bharati are obliged to ensure that the event is made available to the public.
The petition also underscores India’s large football audience and cites FIFA data indicating that India was among the top global engagement markets during the FIFA World Cup 2022. It further asserts that Prasar Bharati has the necessary infrastructure to broadcast the tournament through DD Sports, DD Free Dish and its WAVES OTT platform.
The petitioner argues that failure to broadcast the tournament 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, Avdhesh Bairwa, Subhashni Kumari, Prateek Singh, Nishi Rathore, Nishi Kashyap, Abhishek Nair, Akash Kumar and Arpit Pandey.
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