Minister alleges state funds siphoned off in 2022 WC broadcast
- Update Time : Sunday, 19 July, 2026, 04:09 pm
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Online Desk : State funds were siphoned off through middlemen during the acquisition of broadcasting rights for the 2022 FIFA World Cup under the Sheikh Hasina government, Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon alleged on Sunday. He made the allegation at a press conference on the 2026 FIFA World Cup broadcast held at the Press Information Department conference room at the Secretariat.
The minister said the current government had purchased the broadcasting rights directly from FIFA and recovered almost the entire cost through sub-licensing, leaving an estimated deficit of only Tk 4 crore to Tk 5 crore. ‘The government purchased the media rights for the 2026 World Cup directly from FIFA for $3.85 million. Most of the expenditure has already been recovered by granting sub-licences to four domestic organisations. As a result, the government’s actual deficit stands at only Tk 4 crore to Tk 5 crore, and we are trying to bridge even this gap through revenue-sharing,’ he said.
Swapon said prime minister Tarique Rahman had instructed the authorities to ensure that people could watch the World Cup without placing an excessive financial burden on the state. ‘To achieve this, we negotiated directly with FIFA and purchased the broadcasting rights,’ he said. Comparing the current arrangement with that of the 2022 World Cup, the minister alleged that a Singapore-based company had initially acquired the broadcasting rights from FIFA before a Bangladeshi company, Toma Construction, purchased them and sold the terrestrial broadcasting rights to Bangladesh Television for Tk 98 crore.
He said the satellite broadcasting rights were sold for Tk 22 crore and the digital broadcasting rights for Tk 17 crore, bringing the total value of the transactions to about Tk 140 crore. ‘FIFA received only $3.2 million, while the remaining money went to middlemen. The government spent Tk 98 crore of taxpayers’ money to purchase the broadcasting rights. It was a clear example of corruption in the name of broadcasting the World Cup,’ he said.
The minister said a comparison of the costs of the 2022 and 2026 World Cup broadcasts clearly showed how public funds had been wasted through intermediaries under the previous government. He said the successful acquisition and broadcasting of the 2026 World Cup rights had been made possible through the cooperation of Bangladesh Television, the information and broadcasting ministry, the Bangladesh Football Federation and sports journalists.
Bangladesh Television director general Md Mahbubul Alam said it was the first time that BTV had broadcast the FIFA World Cup at a minimal cost. ‘Some revenue-sharing arrangements are still pending. Once those are finalised, we expect there will be no financial deficit for the government,’ he said. Additional secretary Shah Alam, who is serving as secretary in charge of the ministry, said several hacking attempts had been made during the World Cup broadcasts but engineers from BTV and the relevant organisations had successfully thwarted them, ensuring that only authorised broadcasters aired the matches.
Asked about allegations of irregularities in the 2022 World Cup broadcasting rights, Swapon said the legal process was continuing and that the government would cooperate with any investigation. Mahbubul said BTV had launched a preliminary internal inquiry and that a preliminary investigation was also under way at the Anti-Corruption Commission. Responding to a question about bringing the Brazil and Argentina national football teams to Bangladesh for a friendly match, the minister described it as a good proposal and said the possibility would be discussed with the Bangladesh Football Federation. Principal Information Officer Syed Abdal Ahmad was also present at the press conference.
