Football: 26th African Nations Cup-Matches will not be screened on SBC TV |15 January 2008

Speaking to Sports Nation, Maryse Legaie, head of programming at SBC, confirmed the local TV station’s decision not to screen African Nations Cup matches.

Ms Legaie noted that the LC2 International of France that holds the broadcast right of the continental soccer thriller, is asking too much for matches to be broadcast live.

The sum SBC has to pay LC2 International to broadcast the whole tournament is 305,000 euros
This means that SBC will for a second time not air matches of the African Nations Cup. The last time was in 2006 when the competition took place in Egypt and the Egyptians won it for a record fifth time.

LC2 International bought the broadcasting rights of both the African Nations Cup and the African Champions League in November 2003 after TV Africa, who had held the broadcasting rights for the African Nations Cup, went into bankruptcy. LC2 International contract runs until 2008.

Hike in transmission price

It is to note that there has been a hike in the prices of broadcast rights since 2004. Television stations only had to pay 10,000 euros in 2004 when Tunisia hosted and won the 24th edition. But in 2006 in Egypt, the asking price for TV stations to receive live signals of the 25th African Cup of Nations went up to 250,000 euros. And this year, it has reached 305,000 euros for the 26th edition which starts in Ghana on January 20 and will run until February 10.

Most of the countries that will not be able to screen African Nations Cup matches have termed LC2 International’s deal as “prohibitive, uneconomical, unviable and therefore unacceptable".

Like many other TV stations in Africa, SBC cannot afford to pay LC2 International such a big sum, meaning that most local football fanatics could miss the three-week football feast.

It is not clear if TV5 Monde will air matches this time as the French channel only broadcasted eight matches – four quarterfinals, two semifinals, the third place play-off and the final – in 2006.

The only option for local football enthusiasts to watch the African stars in action is through cable TV as Intelvision has confirmed that it will screen all the matches.

The event takes place in Ghana from Sunday January 20 to Sunday February 10 and sees the best 16 teams from across the continent battle it out. Matches will be played in four cities – Accra, Sekondi, Kumasi and Tamale.
Airports in the regional capitals have been equipped with all necessary facilities in readiness for the soccer tournament.

Toughest CAN in recent times

Pundits have been saying that the 26th African Nations Cup may go down as one of the toughest in the continent in recent times.

Going by the caliber of players that the continent parades around the club today, there is no doubt that it will be a keenly fought battle at all levels. The evolution of the game in the continent, the constant emergence of new stars and the very nature of the game makes a bet for the eventual winners very risky. Names that feature about the list of players for competing countries are amongst the finest in the European league which will undoubtedly lose much of its glamour.

1988 African player of the year, Zambian born Kalusha Bwalya believes the unpredictable nature of the African game today will create room for a more exciting tournament.

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The draw
Group A in Accra: Ghana, Namibia, Guinea and Morocco
Group B in Sekondi: Nigeria, Benin, Mali and Cote d'Ivoire
Group C in Kumasi: Egypt, Sudan, Zambia and Cameroon
Group D in Tamale:  Tunisia, Angola, South Africa and Senegal
 

G. G.