The non-telecast of Copa America, the popular South American football championship featuring Lionel Messi, Vinicius Jr. and other global stars, has upset fans in Kerala to the extent that a group has even sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Nainamvalappu Football Fans Association (NFFA) based in Kozhikode has written to PM Modi, requesting him to direct public broadcaster Prasar Bharati or other sports channels to arrange the live telecast of the football event in India.
“As you are aware, football is the world’s largest and most popular game and it has millions of fans in India alone. As far as football fans are concerned, the Copa America championship is one of the favourite football tournaments in the world,” NFFA president N V Subair wrote in his letter to the PM.
Football fans in Malappuram have also shared their disappointment at not being able to witness world champions Argentina, their arch-rivals Brazil and other South American teams. The championship being hosted by the United States this year began on June 20 and will run till July 14.
“We waited eagerly for the tournament to begin. It is disappointing that none of the channels are telecasting the tournament in India and no streaming platforms have shown interest either,” said Uppoodan Shoukath, convenor of Football Lovers Forum, Malappuram.
The fan groups are looking for alternatives to watch the tournament. They say social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram are flooded with queries about alternate streaming sites, most of which are not recognised by Android.