[3] During a FIFA Council meeting, FIFA president Gianni Infantino also expressed his disappointment towards broadcasters offering "100 times less" compared to the men's tournament, claiming that the women's game is exponentially growing with similar viewership figures as the men's, and asked that the market be willing to consider higher bids for the broadcast rights for the tournament.
[4][5] Some European broadcasters were concerned about the timezone difference affecting viewership figures, something that was not an issue with the France-hosted 2019 Women's World Cup.
[4][10] Sports ministers from the "big five" had released a joint statement on 31 May, acknowledging difficulties in securing rights while saying that FIFA and broadcasters were in discussion towards agreement at the time.
Besides being major markets in undesirable timezones, the deals were made more difficult as the Women's World Cup is a Listed Event (deemed of particular national interest) in these countries,[11][12] with special regulations on how it can be broadcast.
[28] The New Yorker said that Infantino's attempt to frame his and FIFA's cynicism as a moral stand was "a sort of perversion of the players' demands for equal pay".
[27] Dodd said that FIFA should review its bundled deals and attribute a fair proportion back to the women's game instead of blackmail broadcasters.
[27] Former player Rebecca Sowden agreed, saying that FIFA restricting broadcast in the biggest markets would be worse for the women's game, as it disrupts the ecosystem of fans, and that without FIFA working to demonstrate interest in women's football all the time, European broadcasters should be wary about limited exposure and off-peak timezones.
This raised public criticism, with many arguing that the entire tournament should've been sold by FIFA in a way which ensured it was free-to-air, as the 2022 (men's) World Cup in Qatar was on the SBS.