Last week, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil confirmed that Malaysia still does not have an official broadcaster for the 2026 World Cup football tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States which will take place between June 11 and July 19.
Yesterday, The Star reported that Telekom Malaysia (TM) is seeking to acquire the 2026 World Cup broadcast rights through the Unifi TV platform. TM is in talks with RTM for the possibility of a joint collaboration to acquire broadcasting rights.
Previously, FIFA had requested a payment of around $50 million (~RM 198 million) for the 2026 World Cup broadcast rights before reducing it to $35 million (~RM 139 million) which is still considered too high.
Broadcasters are less interested in acquiring the broadcasting rights due to the match schedule taking place during working hours in Malaysia making it difficult to sell advertising slots. Apart from Malaysia, India and Thailand are also reported to be facing difficulties in finalizing the broadcast rights agreement.
What are the alternatives if it is true that Malaysia does not have an official broadcaster with only 48 days left before the first ball is kicked. With football being a popular sport in Malaysia, many certainly do not want to miss seeing Ronaldo and Messi in action for the last time before retiring.
