By Angela Ebonyi
Nigerians on X (formerly Twitter) have criticised MultiChoice, the operator of DStv and GOtv, over its announcement that it would not broadcast live matches of the forthcoming African Cup of Nation tournament which is slated to kick off on January 13, 2024, in Ivory Coast.
DStv had said its sports channel, SuperSports would not broadcast 2023 AFCON matches because the company failed to secure the tournament’s right to broadcast.
MultiChoice announced this in a statement on Wednesday as football lovers prepare for another edition of AFCON.
“SuperSport Channel will not broadcast the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 scheduled for January 13th to February 11th, 2024, because the channel has not secured the rights to broadcast the tournament,” said MultiChoice.
This decision from MultiChoice generated uproar and negative reactions from many Nigerians who viewed it as disrespectful and a lack of passion to grow African home-grown football.
According to them, this is despite that Africans are the highest subscribers of the company.
Speaking on the development, a former presidential aide, JJ. Omojuwa said the African football body, CAF and the tournament are at the receiving end of MultiChoice’s inability to secure the broadcasting rights.
He said, “More of AFCON/CAF’s loss than DSTV’s. No one is breaking up with DSTV over AFCON. Not to mention its peerless continental reach.”
“Multichoice and DSTV said they won’t show AFCON in a continent where majority of their subscribers are football lovers, DSTV will never stop doing this nonsense until we all come together and boycott them, you can show EURO competition but showing AFCON is where you draw the line,” Omotayo said.
According to a popular Nigerian sports journalist, Sulaiman Pooja Adebayo known on social media as Pooja, the situation will affect the marketing activities relating to the tournament.
He said, “No AFCON on DStv will affect brands that want to activate, fans that want to watch & journalists/content creators that want to create. No football on TV makes fans uninterested & drops the energy even on socials. This is a huge decision from DStv.”
Buchi Laba wrote: “It’s actually a big big shame that that AFCON won’t be shown on DStv Supersports! You show all the big leagues in Europe, the Euros and the World Cup but won’t be able to show the African championships and the President of CAF is South African too – it’s very disgraceful.”
“DSTV which is based in Africa failed to get the right to broadcast Africa’s biggest tournaments. Like HOW?” questioned another user, STIGA JNR
Daniel Regha said, “AFCON won’t be broadcast by SuperSport on DStv, really? But they can show matches from other non-African leagues, & continents? This is beyond pathet!c.”
(Sahara Reporters)
