FIFA warns broadcasters to focus less on women

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Broadcasters have been warned to stop zooming in on "hot women" in the crowd at soccer matches, with sexism being a bigger problem than racism in Russia, according to anti-discrimination experts advising FIFA.

FIFA diversity chief Federico Addiechi says football's world body will talk with national broadcasters and its own TV production team.

Addiechi says FIFA's stance is "a normal evolution," and broadcasts in Russia have already improved since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

He says FIFA has already intervened with broadcasters "on a case-by-case basis when some cases arose and they were pretty evident."

Racism was predicted to be the main World Cup problem due to longstanding issues in Russian football and other European fan bases.

"There haven't been a great deal of incidents of the type we expected," Fare director Piara Powar said, praising Russian people who "played a magnificent role making people feel welcome."

Instead, treatment of female media workers and fans provoked debate.

Powar said about half of those reported incidents involved female broadcasters being "accosted while on air." He estimated up to 10 times more unreported cases where Russian women were targeted.

"If you come to this tournament with prejudices, and don't like people from a different nationality, then generally you're in the wrong place," he said.