Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon today said the government directly purchased the media rights for the <a href="https://absafricatv.com/spain-are-the-2026-fifa-world-cup-champions/" title="Spain Are The 2026 FIFA World Cup Champions!”>FIFA World Cup 2026 from FIFA at a nominal cost, ending the hundreds of crores of taka transactions, irregularities, corruption and intermediary syndicates associated with the broadcasting rights of the previous Qatar World Cup.
“Thanks to the far-sighted and cost-effective policy of the government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and successful sub-licensing, we have been able to bring the broadcasting cost of this World Cup football tournament down to almost zero. In contrast, nearly Tk 140 crore was transacted through intermediaries during the Qatar World Cup 2022,” he said.
The minister made the remarks at a press conference held at the conference room of the Press Information Department (PID) in Dhaka on Sunday.
Acting Secretary of the ministry Md Shah Alam, Principal Information Officer Syed Abdal Ahmed and Bangladesh Television (BTV) Director General Md Mahbubul Alam were present.
Presenting a comparative picture of the broadcasting costs of the 2022 and 2026 World Cups, the Minister highlighted the transactions and transparency of the current government in contrast with the purchase of the broadcasting rights for the Qatar World Cup 2022.
Zahir Uddin Swapon said a Singapore-based company had purchased the media rights for the World Cup 2022 from FIFA for US$ 3.2 million. Later, a Bangladeshi private company named “Toma Construction”, which had no involvement in the media sector, was brought in as an intermediary.
The then Sheikh Hasina government subsequently purchased the broadcasting rights for BTV from that intermediary company for Tk 98 crore, using taxpayers’ money following a cabinet decision, he said.
Besides, other private media outlets in the country sub-licensed the rights from the same company for nearly Tk 39 crore, he said, adding that of the amount, T-Sports purchased the rights for Tk 22 crore while Trophy acquired them for Tk 17 crore.
Altogether, around Tk 140 crore of taxpayers’ money was siphoned off through a huge turnover to benefit a private company, he mentioned.
Speaking about the government’s cost-saving strategy, the minister said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had given strict instructions to ensure the right of millions of football lovers in the country to watch the matches while ensuring that not a single taka of taxpayers’ money was wasted amid the country’s difficult economic situation.
Following the Prime Minister’s directive, BTV purchased the media rights directly from FIFA this time through continuous negotiations without any intermediary for only US$ 3.85 million, equivalent to about Tk 47 crore in Bangladeshi currency, he said.
Later, almost the entire expenditure was recovered by sub-licensing the rights to four more media outlets in the country, he said, mentioning that at present, only a small deficit of around Tk 4 to Tk 5 crore remains, which is expected to be fully offset through advertisements and revenue sharing, ultimately bringing the cost down to zero.
Zahir Uddin Swapon said, “The previous government turned the immense passion and enthusiasm of the country’s young generation for football into a tool for corruption, just as it had done by holding the power sector hostage through the Indemnity Act.
A comparison between the corruption of 2022 and the successful and cost-effective performance of the Tarique Rahman government in 2026 will make everything clear to the people.”
The Information Minister said BTV officials and employees, led by the Director General of the state-run television, worked tirelessly to ensure the successful broadcast of the matches.
He thanked the country’s sports reporters, the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF), the State Minister for Information and the Prime Minister’s Information Adviser for providing accurate information and assisting BTV and the ministry during the negotiation process.
He added that with today’s final match, the current phase would come to an end. However, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting would begin planning from now so that future World Cup broadcasting could not only achieve zero cost, or zero deficit, but also be transformed into a profitable venture through the use of more advanced technology.
