The FIFA World Cup takes viewers by storm all over the world every four years as a sporting event more akin to the Olympics than the championships of American football every year with the Super Bowl. Winning consistently impressive TV ratings and inspiring soccer fervor on an international scale (even if most nations don't actually call it "soccer"), World Cup broadcasts go out to a lot of people. Now, FIFA is looking to change those broadcasts to represent audiences more accurately and tastefully. The international governing body for soccer/football wants broadcasts to stop ogling female fans.
In case you've been watching World Cup coverage broadcasts out of Moscow, Russia, you may have noticed the camera lingering on "hot women" in the crowd rather than consistently panning around to a wider variety of fans in attendance. Sexism has reportedly arisen as one of the biggest problems plaguing the World Cup this year, and FIFA is taking steps to stop sexism from making it to the airwaves. FIFA diversity head Federico Addiechi revealed at a press conference (which went far more smoothly than a conference from back in 2015) focusing on issues of diversity (via Irish Examiner) that the FIFA broadcast service has been instructed to stop zooming in on women in the crowd. Additionally, FIFA will monitor how national rights-holders are handling crowd shots and whether cameras linger too much on women deemed especially attractive.
No details are available just yet regarding whether the host broadcasters in Russian will be expected to stop ogling women with cameras for broadcast footage, but Federico Addiechi described the new instructions as part of a "proactive campaign" that will result in FIFA taking "action against things that are wrong." This is not an official policy at this point; as of now, FIFA has issued warnings on a "case-by-case basis" when blatant examples of ogling were noted. While it's quite possible that this will become official policy at some point in the future, it undoubtedly won't happen until the next World Cup at the earliest.
Lingering cameras on "hot women" aren't the only issue regarding female broadcasters for the 2018 World Cup, although other instances haven't had anything to do with where the cameras were aimed in the crowd. There have evidently been multiple instances of female reporters being kissed and/or grabbed on the air. Reporters are evidently at risk for more than being doused with beer by attendees. We can only assume that FIFA is looking to put a stop to these incidents as well. Local organizers and law enforcement are being encouraged to identify fans that have crossed these lines, possibly to deprive them of their access to the World Cup and perhaps even leave the country.
Only time will tell whether or not the broadcasts change for what remains of the 2018 World Cup. As of July 13, only the third-place playoff between Belgium and England and the final between France and Croatia are left. A whole lot of people are bound to tune in and see just what the broadcasters allow on the airwaves. If soccer/football isn't your thing, check out our summer TV guide for some other viewing options.
