It sucks, but.......

At least they didn't have to show this to the US military

Military Members Caught in a Cup Dispute

By RICHARD SANDOMIR
Published: June 13, 2006

Marine Lt. Erin Kelly, a former soccer player at East Brunswick (N.J.) High School and the United States Naval Academy, is in her second tour of duty in Iraq and looked forward to watching the World Cup.

But when word came last week that FIFA's media representative would not make a deal with the Defense Department's American Forces Network, she wrote in an e-mail message to her father, John, "Can you believe this?"

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Cmdr. Greg Kicks, a Pentagon spokesman, said that although the major sports leagues in the United States provided free coverage of their games, the Switzerland-based Infront Sports and Media, which distributes World Cup rights for FIFA, sought a rights fee.

Kicks said that the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service was not budgeted to purchase sports programming. "We rely on the generosity of many organizations to support our military members by providing sports programming free of charge," he said.
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Scott Sandahl, a master sergeant at the Yokota Air Base in Japan, said Monday in the military newspaper Stars and Stripes: "It's sad that money has dictated that military service members won't see the World Cup. This is the biggest sport in the world. For people stationed overseas, it's a big part of the culture all around us.

OK, so who else asked for an in kind contribution to watch the World Cup. Nor did they try to make a deal to use ESPN's feed.

FIFA charges everyone for rights. Corrupt and greedy, sure. But how can they let the US military show the games without a rights fee while charging and restricting everyone else. Most of the photos can't be used on mobile phones. The BBC has to restrict their broadcasts to the UK.

Disney could have stepped in here if they wanted.