MultiChoice Makes U-Turn, To Air All AFCON Games Live

The parent firm of DStv and GOtv, MultiChoice Group, has declared that games from the next African Cup of Nations (AFCON) will air on its channels.

SuperSports will broadcast every one of the 52 games in the competition, which is scheduled to begin on Saturday, according to a source close to the dominant broadcaster.

The insider also stated that the matches will “be available on most bouquets on DStv and GOtv” despite the broadcasting rights being “non-exclusive.”

The development came a few weeks after MultiChoice disclosed that it failed to acquire the broadcasting rights for AFCON.

It was revealed that the company was beaten to the broadcasting rights by New World TV, a Togolese audio-visual group.

New World TV had won the rights to broadcast all CAF’s 13 competitions to the sub-Saharan African audience for two years.

The initial announcement by MultiChoice has left most football fans in sub-Saharan Africa unsure of their viewing of the forthcoming continental competition.

Startimes had also announced it struck a sublicensing deal with New World TV and would air all the competition games.

Earlier, the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) also signed a memorandum of understanding with AfroSports TV, a cross-continental Free-To-Air (FTA) sports channel, to broadcast AFCON to the Nigerian audience.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria landed in the Ivory Coast on Wednesday.

The team is in Group A alongside the hosts, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau.

Nigeria will take on Equatorial Guinea in their opening game on January 14 before facing Ivory Coast four days later and rounding off the group stage with the Guinea-Bissau tie.