FIFA warns CazéTV over conflict of interest concerning 2030 World Cup rights

FIFA has raised serious concerns about CazéTV's eligibility to broadcast the 2030 World Cup, citing conflicts of interest stemming from the interconnected ownership and investment structures of the streaming platform, its parent company LiveMode, and the Brazilian football league FFU (Futebol Forte União).

The issue centres on LiveMode's dual role as both a buyer and seller of sports broadcasting rights, while simultaneously serving as the exclusive media agency for FFU. This creates what FIFA views as an impermissible conflict, as the same corporate entity stands to benefit from decisions affecting multiple stakeholders in Brazilian football. The problem is compounded by shared investors—XP Investimentos and General Atlantic—who invested R$ 2.6 billion in FFU in 2023 and later invested in LiveMode in April 2024. FIFA officials expressed discomfort with the situation during informal discussions at the World Cup in the United States.

CazéTV's position is further complicated by a political dimension in Brazilian football. The CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) launched a project this year to unify the country's football leagues by 2030, combining clubs from FFU and Libra (Liga Brasil). FIFA, as a member of the CBF and guardian of competitive integrity, has an interest in this consolidation process, creating an additional layer of conflict regarding CazéTV's neutrality.

To resolve the situation, FIFA may require LiveMode to assume a single role in negotiations—either as a broadcaster or as a rights buyer and seller—or demand that the company divest from FFU-linked investors. Such measures would represent a significant hardship, given LiveMode's integral role in founding FFU and managing all its broadcast rights negotiations. Despite these challenges, CazéTV achieved considerable success, acquiring 2022 World Cup rights for just US$ 3 million and breaking Globo's two-decade monopoly on Brazilian World Cup broadcasting.

The path forward remains uncertain. CazéTV must navigate these conflicts of interest to secure 2030 World Cup rights, while FIFA works to ensure the integrity of its broadcasting agreements and prevent any entity from gaining unfair advantages through overlapping commercial interests.