Fifa officials head to China to discuss bargain broadcasting deal for World Cup

Fifa officials are reportedly flying to China in a bid to get the country’s state broadcaster to buy the television rights to this year’s World Cup, and are offering to slash the asking price by more than 50 per cent.

Originally demanding US$300 million, the drop to between US$120 million and US$150 million is still some way above the US$80 million CCTV had said it would pay.

According to local media, a delegation including Mattias Grafstrom, the world governing body’s secretary general, and Jean-Christophe Petit, its director of media rights, are heading to Beijing this week to discuss the matter with the broadcaster.

Both sides were said to be optimistic about reaching a deal and an announcement could be made in the second half of May, with Fifa willing to make “significant concessions” for the tournament, which is being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and kicks off next month.

While it was suggested CCTV was willing to offer more than its stated amount, the focus of negotiations between the sides was on packaging the 2026 and 2030 World Cups, with the latter being held in six countries across Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

A diagram circulating on social media platform Weibo showed the amounts 10 countries and regions are reportedly paying for this summer’s tournament, ranging from US$14 million in Thailand to US$200 million in Japan.

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