Myanmar rights group urges FIFA to revoke Mytel World Cup deal

Myanmar’s military-linked telecom company Mytel is facing fresh scrutiny after a domestic rights group urged FIFA to revoke its exclusive World Cup broadcasting rights in the country. Justice For Myanmar said it learned of the deal only after Mytel began advertising the tournament locally, according to The Associated Press, as carried by The Independent. Separately, The Independent reports that Adam Castillo, an American businessman who wrote a book about living through Myanmar’s 2021 coup, has been detained after returning to the country.

Justice For Myanmar argues that the media-rights contract turns a global sports event into a revenue stream for a company it says is tied to the junta. Mytel is one of Myanmar’s four telecom operators and a joint venture between Myanmar’s military and Vietnam’s military-controlled Viettel; the group says the firm provides funds to Myanmar’s armed forces and has been a target of consumer boycotts. The US Commerce Department added Mytel last year to its sanctions list, citing alleged surveillance services and financial support that enabled human rights abuses through tracking and identification of targets.

FIFA, the group notes, ran an open tender for Myanmar media rights before selecting Mytel, and neither FIFA nor Mytel responded to requests for comment cited in the report. The arrangement comes as Myanmar remains in a civil war between the military-run government and a patchwork of ethnic militias and pro-democracy forces, a conflict that has steadily narrowed the space for international business and independent civil society. For broadcasters, exclusive rights are normally a commercial tool to control distribution and pricing; in Myanmar’s case, critics say the same exclusivity also concentrates leverage over what is shown, who can advertise, and which payment rails fans must use.

Castillo’s detention adds another pressure point for foreign nationals operating in or returning to the country. The Independent describes him as Yangon-based, a former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar, and the head of a security firm; he was reportedly stopped at an airport on arrival after traveling abroad to promote his book, Finding Our Voice. The US State Department said it was aware of reports that an American citizen had been detained but declined further comment, citing privacy.

Myanmar does not have a team in the 2026 World Cup, but football remains the country’s most popular sport and major tournaments draw large audiences. For Myanmar viewers, the question is increasingly mundane and concrete: which company controls the signal, the subscription, and the data trail that comes with watching it.