Bangladesh, July 20 -- The government directly purchased the media rights for the FIFA World Cup 2026 from FIFA at a nominal cost, ending the hundreds of crores of taka transactions, irregularities, corruption and intermediary syndicates associated with the broadcasting rights of the previous Qatar World Cup, Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon said on Sunday.

"Thanks to the far-sighted and cost-effective policy of the government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and successful sub-licensing, we have been able to bring the broadcasting cost of this World Cup football tournament down to almost zero.

In contrast, nearly Tk 140 crore was transacted through intermediaries during the Qatar World Cup 2022," he said, r...