Bafana Bafana players celebrate a goal in a match late last year. Picture: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images
South African football fans are likely to be left in the dark when the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) gets underway, after Multichoice announced SuperSport will not broadcast the upcoming tournament.
The Afcon tournament kicks off in on 13 January and will run until 11 February, with Bafana Bafana drawn in Group E.
“SuperSport channels will not broadcast the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) 2023 scheduled for January 13th – February 11th, 2024, because the channel has not secured the rights to broadcast the tournament,” Multichoice said in a leaked statement.
“However, Afcon 2023 games will be available through our partner broadcast stations on Free to Air (FTA) channels. MultiChoice remains committed to ensuring football fans continue to enjoy unrivalled access to entertainment and football games available on DStv and GOtv platforms,” the company said.
Bafana Bafana will open their Afcon Group E campaign against Mali at Stade Amadou Gon Coulibaly in Korhogo on January 16 (10pm SA time).
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Sport broadcasts on free-to-air channels came under the spotlight during the Rugby and Cricket World Cups.
Majority of South Africans breathed a sigh of relief last year when they got to watch the Springboks play and win the Rugby World Cup in France, after the SABC and MultiChoice reached an 11th-hour agreement on broadcasting rights.
Sports Minister Zizi Kodwa stepped in to resolve the standoff between MultiChoice and the SABC, after the national broadcaster refused to pay MultiChoice R37.7 million for the right to show all games live.
This would have meant the matches would have only been available on DStv’s Premium package, with only about 1.3 million South Africans being able to watch the games.
A month later in October, Kodwa welcomed a sub-licensing deal between the SABC and MultiChoice (SuperSport) to broadcast the Cricket World Cup in India.
“The agreement may not be the best commercially for both parties, but I appreciate that in the national interest they have found a win-win solution.
“Once more, I call for a permanent solution on the matter of sports broadcast rights which will allow all South Africans to watch sport of national interest,” Kodwa said.
However, SABC said MultiChoice had restricted the Cricket World Cup 2023 broadcast on the OVHD (eMedia Platform).
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