Fifa stops broadcasters from zooming in on attractive female football fans

MOSCOW: Fifa has shown a yellow warning card to World Cup broadcasters, saying it wants fewer images of attractive women in World Cup stadiums screened.

Diversity chief Federico Addiechi said the world football body will talk with national broadcasters, and to its own TV production team.

Sexism has apparently been a bigger problem than racism at the World Cup, diversity experts Fare Network director Piara Powar said.

​He told press conference on diversity issues his team had “documented more than 30 cases” of mainly Russian women being “accosted in the streets” by male fans but believes the real number of incidents is likely to be “10 times this”.

Pre-tournament there were concerns Russia 2018 would be tainted by homophobia and racism, but sexism has emerged as the bigger issue.

Fifa has already talked with broadcasters “on a case-by-case basis when some cases arose,” Addiechi said. ​”This is one of the activities we definitely will have in future – it’s a normal evolution.”

Fifa would “take action against things that are wrong”, he said.