FIFA offers World Cup games for free during coronavirus hiatus
With the sports world hitting the pause button indefinitely as global health leaders attempt to control the spread of the coronavirus, FIFA is doing its part to help soccer fans get through this difficult time.
FIFA announced on Thursday it will be making archival footage of previous World Cup matches available to the public for free.
Full games will be made available to stream in their entirety on FIFA.com, the FIFA You Tube channel and also Weibo in China beginning on March 21. Fans will decide which games are made available via Twitter voting. A total of 30 matches from the men’s and women’s World Cup will be posted.
The NBA and NFL recently made a similar move, offering their fans access to NBA League Pass and NFL Game Pass for free. Complimentary content for those services includes past games, highlight packages and documentaries.
FIFA will also make various documentaries and player interviews relevant to the featured games available for free streaming.
Soccer leagues and competitions across the globe have been impacted by this global pandemic. UEFA postponed Euro 2020 to 2021, while all other competitions have been suspended until further notice.
The congested calendar could also have an effect on 2022 World Cup qualifying matches, which have been pushed behind schedule with the suspensions of other competitions. These delays will continue to have widespread impact, not the least among them player contracts and transfers. While plans for a post-coronavirus soccer world have begun to take shape, there is still much that is unknown.