Keep your eye on the ball, television producers told

The BBC and ITV are to be told by Fifa to show fewer shots of female spectators during coverage. The world governing body said it aimed to curb the proliferation of close-ups of attractive women in the wake of recent publicity over sexual harassment. The BBC and ITV are among the broadcast rights holders, some of whom had already been warned over gratuitous shots of women during a World Cup that has been branded “the most sexist ever”, amid tales of female fans being groped and a trend for foreign supporters to upload video of Russian women tricked into uttering obscene songs and phrases.