Football fans across Africa, including in Malawi, have expressed anger following SuperSport Channel’s failure to secure rights to broadcast the delayed 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
MultiChoice Africa announced on Wednesday that they will not beam the Afcon tournament which is scheduled for January 13th to February 11, 2024 in Ivory Coast.
“The 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 unrivalled access to entertainment and football games available on DStv and GOtv platforms,” the statement reads.
Although Malawi National Football Team, the Flames, did not qualify for the Afcon finals, there are DStv and GOtv subscribers in Malawi.
One of the local football fans, Jones Mockton, described the development as unfortunate.
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“We enjoy watching the Afcon games on SuperSport because they have dedicated channels. This is bad news for football fans. I hope they will find a solution before the tournament kicks off,” he said.
Another local fan, Willy Chambwinja, concurred with Mockton.
“This is the biggest tournament in Africa and everyone wants to follow the matches.
“That said, I am confident that SuperSport will get the rights,” he said.
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However, despite the leaked statement from MultiChoice Africa, there is a glimmer of hope that some fans will watch the matches.
For instance, South African media reported Thursday that South African fans would be able to watch the Afcon games as public broadcaster Sabc has secured rights and will beam the matches.
According to reports, Super Sport officials are still in negotiations with Togolese broadcaster partners, New World, who are the current rights holders for the African FTA media rights in sub-Saharan Africa.
