{"id":48045,"date":"2026-04-10T10:35:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=48045"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:35:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:05:38","slug":"lalit-kumar-modi-says-fifa-world-cup-2026-is-doomed-amid-pricing-row-media-rights-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/football\/lalit-kumar-modi-says-fifa-world-cup-2026-is-doomed-amid-pricing-row-media-rights-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Lalit Kumar Modi says FIFA World Cup 2026 is \u201cdoomed\u201d amid pricing row, media rights crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p dir=\"auto\"><strong>Lalit Kumar Modi<\/strong>, the influential former IPL chairman, has sparked a major debate with his explosive tweet criticizing FIFA\u2019s handling of the <strong>2026 FIFA World Cup<\/strong> media rights and ticket pricing. In a strongly worded post on X (formerly Twitter), Modi warned that the upcoming tournament is \u201cdoomed\u201d due to what he calls unrealistic pricing and poor decision-making by FIFA President <strong>Gianni Infantino<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">This criticism comes at a critical time. As of April 9, 2026\u2014just months before the World Cup kicks off in the USA, Canada, and Mexico\u2014FIFA\u2019s broadcast rights for the Indian subcontinent remain unsold even after a huge price reduction.<\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"auto\">What Did Lalit Kumar Modi Say?<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"auto\">On April 9, 2026, Lalit Modi shared his candid advice to a prospective bidder who approached his family in February 2026. He wrote:<\/p>\n<blockquote dir=\"auto\">\n<p dir=\"auto\">\u201cI told a prospective bidder who approached one my family members when he asked my advise in February this year \u2013 It\u2019s best worth 5 million dollars as far as Indian media rights are concerned. But if you have money to burn \ud83d\udd25- then go for it. Guess @FIFAcom @FIFAWorldCup Boss @gianniinfantino will learn the hard way. This coming World Cup is doomed \u2013 look at the absurd unheard of ticket pricing. Completely ignoring FANS of the football \u26bd\ufe0f globally to please one and only one person \u2013 Guess who \ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83d\ude02\ud83e\udd2c\ud83e\udd2c\ud83e\udd2c\ud83e\udd2c\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p dir=\"auto\">Modi\u2019s tweet directly references FIFA\u2019s aggressive pricing strategy and accuses the organization of sidelining global football fans to favor a single influential figure. The post quickly gained traction, with over 81,000 views within hours.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I told a prospective bidder who approached one my family members when he asked my advise in February this year \u2013 It\u2019s best worth 5 million dollars as far as Indian media rights are concerned. But if you have money to burn \ud83d\udd25- then go for it. Guess <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FIFAcom?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FIFAcom<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FIFAWorldCup?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@FIFAWorldCup<\/a> Boss\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/rUvEBbxsc1\">https:\/\/t.co\/rUvEBbxsc1<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/GrWKyTJvN0\">pic.twitter.com\/GrWKyTJvN0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lalit Kumar Modi (@LalitKModi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LalitKModi\/status\/2042373641178931373?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3 dir=\"auto\">FIFA Slashes India Media Rights Price \u2013 Still No Buyers<\/h3>\n<p dir=\"auto\">According to a detailed report, FIFA originally demanded <strong>$100 million<\/strong> for the combined media rights (2026 and 2030 World Cups) in the Indian subcontinent when the tender was released in July 2025. Facing zero interest from broadcasters and streaming platforms, FIFA made a hefty price cut to around <strong>$35 million<\/strong>. Despite this nearly 65% reduction, no bids have come in, and no Indian broadcaster has stepped forward.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"auto\">For context:<\/p>\n<ul dir=\"auto\">\n<li>In 2022, Viacom18 paid a record <strong>$62 million<\/strong> just for digital rights of the single World Cup in India.<\/li>\n<li>Sony Sports Network held linear TV rights for the 2014 and 2018 editions.<\/li>\n<li>The Indian Super League (ISL) media rights have also crashed from over \u20b9200 crore per year to just \u20b98 crore in the latest cycle.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"auto\">This sharp decline highlights a broader slump in the commercial value of football broadcasting in India, despite strong grassroots interest in the sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lalit Kumar Modi, the influential former IPL chairman, has sparked a major debate with his explosive tweet criticizing FIFA\u2019s handling\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":217,"featured_media":48046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[5177],"class_list":["post-48045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-lalit-kumar-modi"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/217"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48045"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48049,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48045\/revisions\/48049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}