Less than 10 days after Multichoice lost out in the race for the CAF 2023 Afcon broadcast, StarTimes, a leading digital TV operator with its headquarters in Beijing, China serving 45 million users in 30+ countries across Africa stepped up and secured the 2023 AFCON coverage.
In a quest to redefine sports broadcasting in Africa, the media giant will not only broadcast the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations but has also secured the air rights to all CAF Events set to be held in 2024 in Anglophone & Lusophone Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including CHAN 2024 and AFCON 2025 Qualifiers.
The Multichoice company had earlier announced in a statement released on Wednesday that its Super Sports channels won’t be broadcasting the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) slated to be held in Ivory Coast because its broadcast company failed to successfully the television rights for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
“SuperSport Channel will not broadcast the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 scheduled for January 13th – February 11th, 2024, because the channel has not secured the rights to broadcast the tournament.” its statement read.
This came both as a shock and a disappointment to football fans in Nigeria who were hoping to watch the Super Eagles and other participating nations live on Television as the action unfolded in neighboring Cote D’Ivoire.