Soccer’s global governing body FIFA has launched FIFA+, a free online video streaming service that is set to air more than 40,000 live games per year.
“FIFA+ will provide access to live football matches from every corner of the world, interactive games, news, tournament information, ground-breaking, unrivalled video content delivering truly global storytelling around the men’s and women’s game and much more,” FIFA said in a statement on Tuesday (12 April).
What to expect from FIFA+
Soccer fans from around the world, including South Africa, can stream live games, FIFA+ originals and video archives on the new online platform. They can also access news and gaming services as well as the Match Centre.
Live matches
“By the end of 2022, FIFA+ will be streaming the equivalent of 40,000 live games per year from 100 Member Associations across all six confederations, including 11,000 women’s matches,” the world body said.
Fans will access live coverage of Europe’s topflight leagues and competitions from around the world in men’s, women’s and youth football. The service will start off with 1,400 matches per month before expanding exponentially.
Archive
With the FIFA World Cup scheduled for later this year in Qatar, the platform will have more than 2,000 hours of archive content from previous World Cups, both men and women’s. This includes full matches, highlights, goals and memorable moments.
Originals
Fans can look forward to football documentaries, docuseries and talk shows, with translations into 11 languages. Notable features available at launch include Ronaldinho: The Happiest Man in the World and Golden Boot, a docuseries that interviews the World Cup’s greatest goal scorers.
Match Centre, news and gaming
The Match Centre will give viewers access to football data from 400 men’s competitions and 65 women’s competitions. News on the game will be updated daily, while viewers will access interactive games such as votes, quizzes, fantasy games and predictors.
Making football ‘truly global’
“FIFA+ represents the next step in our vision to make football truly global and inclusive, and it underpins FIFA’s core mission of expanding and developing football globally,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.
“This project represents a cultural shift in the way different types of football fans want to connect with and explore the global game and has been a fundamental part of my Vision 2020-2023. It will accelerate the democratisation of football and we are delighted to share it with fans.”
You can view content on FIFA+ on the web or mobile devices via iOS and Android apps, with other connected devices to follow soon. No subscription is required, although the content is ad-supported.
Five language editions were available at launch – English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish. Six more languages will follow in June.