FIFA are set to crack down on... em... broadcasters showing attractive shots of female fans in World Cup stadiums, according to FIFA diversity chief Federico Addiechi.
When asked if the stance was now official FIFA policy Addiechi says the stance is “a normal evolution,” and that broadcasts in Russia have already improved from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil:
This is one of the activities that we definitely will have in the future – it’s a normal evolution.
We have done it on a case-by-case basis when some cases arose and they were pretty evident.
We’ve done it with individual broadcasters. We’ve done it as well with our host broadcast services.
Addiechi added that it was not a “proactive campaign” but said “we’ll take action against things that are wrong”.
The subject arose today in a review of FIFA’s anti-discrimination program in Russia. Monitors identified sexist incidents which included fans harassing female broadcasters.
How exactly you can police such a vague policy remains to be seen, but the news probably means we'll be seeing a lot more old fat men in our crowd reaction shots. Yipee.
