27 live matches and 14 delayed broadcast throughout the month-long tournament.
The federal government has succeeded in getting full sponsorship of RM30 million from private companies to broadcast the 2018 World Cup football matches on RTM.
Hence, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the federal government would not spend a single sen to air the World Cup 2018 matches.
“We have already obtained sponsorship from private companies totalling RM30 million and they will be able to get their returns by having their advertisements aired during the broadcast of the World Cup matches.
“In addition, every viewer will also be able to save at least RM100 because if we want to see the matches (on satellite television channel) we have to pay about RM100,” he told reporters at the Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak (Komtar) here today.
When asked why the sponsors did not donate to the government’s Tabung Harapan instead, Lim explained that the sponsors also wanted to benefit from airing their advertisements.
“There is a great difference. Sponsorship will get them daily advertisements throughout the whole month (of the World Cup), so at least they will get some returns,” Lim said.
“Who wants to just give away RM30 million for a one-off event (just) like that?
Lim said the ministry had been deluged with criticisms when the government announced its intention to broadcast the 2018 World Cup matches involving RM30 million, the same time the government launched the Tabung Harapan donation drive.
“We received criticisms on why we are spending money on the football matches, yet at the same time we also launched the Tabung Harapan, which we have explained before but perhaps not very clear, which is, even though we spend RM30 million, we will get back RM30 million in the form of advertisements from private companies,” he said.
According to Lim, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had reservations about broadcasting the World Cup on RTM, as the country was financially tight.
“However, after it was explained to him that the tournament only comes once in four years and that allowing it to be aired on RTM would allow the public to watch the sport for free without having to subscribe to any sports channels, Mahathir gave it the green light.”
RTM will be making preparations to broadcast 27 live matches and 14 delayed broadcast throughout the month-long tournament.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place in Russia from June 14 to July 15.