FIFA has launched free video streaming platform Fifa +, with plans to show 40,000 live matches per year as well as archive World Cup footage and documentaries, including original series and singles.
The first slate of Fifa + originals will include productions from Fulwell 73, Fever Media and Noah Media Group. They feature Ronaldinho, Dani Alves, Ronaldo Nazário, Romelu Lukaku, Lucy Bronze and Carli Lloyd, among others.
“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,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino. “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.”
By the end of 2022, Fifa+ will be streaming the equivalent of 40,000 live games per year, including live coverage from Europe’s topflight leagues as well as previously unserved competitions from around the world in men’s, women’s and youth football. From launch, 1,400 matches will be live streamed monthly on Fifa +.
The service will have an archive with every FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup match recorded, totalling over 2,000 hours of content. Fans will have the ability to watch full-match replays, highlights and goals. The Fifa + archive will launch with more than 2,500 videos dating back to the 1950s, with more to come throughout the year.
A Match Centre will provide data across 400 men’s competitions and 65 women’s competitions, with a daily feed of news from around the world of men’s and women’s football. There will also be interactive games including votes, quizzes, fantasy games and predictors.
Fifa + orginals will feature full-length documentaries, docuseries, talk shows and shorts – localised into 11 languages, telling stories from local grassroots to national teams and footballing heroes past and present, from more than 40 countries.
Fifa + Originals titles:
Ronaldinho: The Happiest Man in the World - a feature-length documentary offering extensive access to unseen archive. The 90-minute film directed by Stuart and Andrew Douglas, produced by Bernie Goldmann and by Simon Horsman and Jeffrey Soros of Los Angeles Media Fund, tells the story of the player’s life, charting his rise from the streets of Brazil to becoming one of football’s most loved players. Lionel Messi, Frank Rijkaard and Carles Puyol all feature.
Captains: Season 1 is an eight-part series from Fulwell 73 (Sunderland ‘Til I Die, All or Nothing: Juventus) following six captains as they lead their countries through qualification for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The series will explore each individual’s leadership traits. It features Luka Modrić (Croatia), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Brian Kaltak (Vanuatu), Andre Blake (Jamaica), Hassan Maatouk (Lebanon) and Thiago Silva (Brazil).
Croatia: Defining a Nation is an original feature-length documentary that tells the story of how football unites and binds this nation and a group of friends who reached global recognition against the backdrop of the most extreme adversity. From director Louis Myles (Kaiser: The Greatest Footballer Never to Play Football, Liverpool FC: The 30-Year Wait).
HD Cutz is an eight-part docuseries with barber to the stars Sheldon Edwards talking food, fashion, music and, sometimes, football. Featuring Paul Pogba and Antonio Rüdiger, it is produced by Motif Pictures and Fever Media.
Dani Crazy Dream is a six, half-hour documentary series featuring Dani Alves,the most decorated player in history as he tries to make it to the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. It is produced by Alves’s own production company, Maracanã Media.
Golden Boot is a four-part docuseries interviewing the greatest FIFA World Cup goalscorers, produced by Goalhanger Films (Wayne Rooney: The Man Behind the Goals). Episode one sees Gary Lineker sitting down with Brazilian great Ronaldo Nazário to rewatch the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Icons is a five part docuseries showcasing five of the biggest game-changers of the women’s game: Wendie Renard, Lucy Bronze, Asisat Oshoala, Carli Lloyd and Sam Kerr telling their stories in their own words. It is produced by Noah Media Group (14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible, Finding Jack Charlton).
Academies is the inside story of some of the greatest talent production lines in world football from Shoot the Company. Season 1 tells the story of RSC Anderlecht across three episodes.
From launch, Fifa+ will be available across all web and mobile devices, and across a range of connected devices soon. It will be available in five language editions (English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish), with an additional six languages to follow in June of 2022.
The new Spring issue of Televisual features a focus on super docs, including comment from Noah Media and Fulwell 73.
Pippa Considine
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