Will SABC cough up R5m for Bafana game

June 2 2011 at 07:41am
By Nkareng Matshe



AFP

South Africans could be in for another shock when they tune in to watch Bafana Bafana’s match away to Egypt on Sunday: they may find it’s not on television.

The SABC confirmed on Wednesday that they were still in negotiations to secure the rights to beam the crucial African Nations Cup qualifier live from Cairo.

“We are still negotiating with the rights holder. At this stage the main stumbling block is the price that they want to charge us,” SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said.

He would not comment on exactly how much Sport Five, the French sports agency that acquired the rights from the Confederation of African Football, wants to charge the public broadcaster, but The Star understands the fee is over €500 000 (nearly R5 million).

“I’m not allowed to disclose how much they want because we are still in the process of negotiating. But we are hopeful that we’ll be able to find common ground,” Kganyago said.

In the broadcast schedule released this week, the SABC indicated they would beam the match, which will be played at Cairo’s Military Academy ground, live with build-up from 8pm on Sunday

Kganyago conceded the SABC schedule could yet change if they do not agree on pricing with Sport Five.

“The truth is at the moment we do not have the rights for this game, but are working on that. The plan is once we have secured the rights, we’ll send a small technical team to Cairo but the bulk of our team will work from our Auckland Park studios when we receive pictures from the venue.”

The SABC currently do not have a contract with the SA Football Association as the previous deal expired at the end of March this year. If they don’t beam Sunday’s Group G qualifier, it would be the second time that the SABC fail to show a crucial Bafana official match, after they couldn’t broadcast the clash between SA and Sierra Leone from Freetown last October.

An outcry followed then, with the SABC forced to issue apologies, but failing to broadcast a match as huge as Sunday’s would lead to an even bigger uproar from the SA public. Bafana top Group G, with Egypt – the seven-times continental champions – facing the danger of elimination from next year’s finals if they fail to win.

SA Football Association spokesperson Morio Sanyane said the organisation had not yet been made aware that the match might not be broadcast.

“As far as we know, negotiations are on track. But if required, Safa will assist the SABC to secure the rights. We worked jointly to secure the rights for our friendly last month against Tanzania, and if we are approached we’ll be available to help out,” Sanyane said.