Every four years, the American Forces Network has to jump through hoops to air the World Cup. The event starts in a few hours, yet, despite two years of negotiations with FIFA and rights holders in various countries, US troops in Afghanistan and other overseas locations are about to miss out on this global event. Because of the way their military broadcasters are structured, the Germans, British and numerous other militaries are airing the World Cup to their troops, while those serving in the most well-funded and powerful military in the world sit on the sidelines. Without getting into the bigger issues of how AFN is funded and gets its content, the immediate effect of all that is that US troops are about to miss out on something big because of it.



