South Africa owned Satellite Company, MultiChoice, the parent company of DSTV, has disclosed that it won’t broadcast the upcoming African Cup of Nations Championship on its platform due to its inability to secure the Television Rights.
The Company made the disclosure on Wednesday, that it failed to secure the broadcasting rights to broadcast the continent’s biggest footballing event on its SuperSport channels.
“SuperSport Channel will not broadcast the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 scheduled for January 13th – February 11th, 2-24, because the channel has not secured the rights to broadcast the tournament.
“However, AFCON 2023 games will be available through our partner broadcast stations on Free to Air (FTA) channels.
“Multichoice Africa remains committed to ensuring football fans across Africa continue to enjoy unrivaled access to entertainment and football games available on DStv and GOtv platforms including, the Premier League, LaLiga, Serie A, Zambian Super League, and many more of football’s most prestigious competitions,” the firm said in a statement on Wednesday.
The 34th edition of AFCON will begin on 13 January in Ivory Coast.
This will be first time that MultiChoice will fail to secure the TV Rights of Africa’s biggest sports tournament.
This has generated mixed reaction among soccer fans who believe that it is disheartening that despite charging Nigerians exorbitant fees for subscription, it has failed to showcase the biggest football tournament in the continent to Nigerians.