Malaysia's national broadcaster Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) and Telekom Malaysia’s Unifi have broken Astro's two-decade hold on FIFA World Cup rights in a public/private partnership that comes a little over a month before kick-off.

Astro said this evening that while it was disappointed with the outcome, the landscape for premium content – particularly sports – “has changed significantly”, and that it couldn’t justify the investment.

“Rising costs, driven by inflation and escalating international sports broadcasting rights, have significantly increased the financial investment required. Meanwhile, rampant piracy has diminished the value of such rights to all legitimate platforms,” Astro said in a statement issued just after 6pm. 

Astro also hasn’t ruled out acquiring sub-licensing from the new rights holders. The platform also highlighted its other high-value sports rights and said it would be placing greater emphasis on nurturing local sports.

Government-owned news platform, Bernama, said the RTM-backed partnership would ensure that “the public can enjoy the tournament in an inclusive, legitimate and comprehensive manner”. 

All 104 matches will air live on Unifi TV, with select matches either live or delayed on RTM and additional free-TV windows on myTV and RTMKlik.  

Public screenings will also be held, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said today. 

He said sponsor discussions were ongoing and that the government had allocated RM24 million/US$6 million to the project. 

The opening match takes place in Mexico City on 11 June.