kaizer chiefs

Reeve Frosler of Kaizer Chiefs dejected during the Absa Premiership 2019/20 match between Kaizer Chiefs and Chippa United at the Bidvest Stadium, Johannesburg on the 05 September 2020 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Kaizer Chiefs vs Al Ahly | SABC slams CAF [FULL STATEMENT]

The SABC has slammed CAF for ‘denying’ millions of South African football fans an opportunity to watch the CAF Champions League final.

kaizer chiefs

Reeve Frosler of Kaizer Chiefs dejected during the Absa Premiership 2019/20 match between Kaizer Chiefs and Chippa United at the Bidvest Stadium, Johannesburg on the 05 September 2020 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

The SABC has slammed CAF for ‘denying’ millions of South African football fans an opportunity to watch the CAF Champions League final between Kaizer Chiefs and Al Ahly.

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Chiefs and Al Ahly will meet on Saturday, 17 July, in a battle to be crowned African champions, but not every fan will get to watch the match LIVE on their Televisions.

This is because SuperSport acquired the exclusive rights to broadcast the titanic clash in Morocco, and this hasn’t gone down well with the SABC.

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In a strong-worded statement released on the eve of the match, the public broadcaster claimed CAF played dirty by only informing them of the exclusive rights to SuperSport on Thursday.

And according to the SABC, CAF also gave SuperSport the broadcast rights for free-to-air, which they described as ‘disreputable’.

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Furthermore, the SABC said it had already met CAF’s asking price for the free-to-air rights, but their offer was rejected on the basis that a deal was already struck with SuperSport.

FULL STATEMENT FROM THE SABC

The SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) regrets to announce that it has been denied the opportunity of broadcasting the Confederation of African Football (Caf) Champions League final between Kaizer Chiefs and Egypt‘s Al Ahly.

The SABC was surprised and disappointed to learn yesterday that Caf had sold the exclusive rights to broadcast the final to the pay-TV broadcaster‚ SuperSport.

Despite the SABC meeting Caf’s asking price for the free-to-air rights‚ the offer was rejected on the basis that Caf has signed an exclusive deal with SuperSport that covers all rights‚ including the free-to-air rights‚ for this match.

It simply cannot be in the public interest for Caf and SuperSport to contractually exclude millions of non-pay-TV subscribers from watching this game. Furthermore‚ it is disreputable for a pay-TV broadcaster to acquire free-to-air rights with the intention of blocking free-to-air broadcasters from using those rights.

At a time when economic exclusion is the biggest issue facing South Africa‚ not only does this deal between Caf and SuperSport perpetuate the divide in our society but it shows scant regard for the issues facing our people.

The failure of ICASA’s Sports Rights regulations to deal with this situation means the public broadcaster has no recourse to the regulator even though broadcasting the Caf Champions League final – involving one of SA’s biggest clubs – is clearly part of SABC’s public mandate.

This is a very sad day for Kaizer Chiefs fans and all football lovers in South Africa when Caf‚ the custodian of the people’s game on the African continent‚ agrees to exclude millions of people who cannot afford pay-TV.

Despite this unfortunate outcome driven by two parties who do not have public service obligations‚ and clearly do not have the poor’s interest at heart‚ the SABC remains committed to bringing big sporting events to all South Africans.

SABC

Kick-off for the clash between Chiefs and Al Ahly at Stade Mohammed V in Morocco is at 21:00 SA time.