SUPERSPORT, the most widely watched cable sports channels in sub-Sahara Africa, will not be broadcasting the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
The channels have been providing coverage of the continent’s biggest single-sport event for years, but will not do so this year as the Confederation of African Football sold the rights to another outfit.
Multichoice, the operator of SuperSport, confirmed today that it will disappoint million of its viewers with the lack of AFCON coverage.
“SuperSport Channels will not broadcast the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 scheduled for January 13 to February 11, 2024 because the channel has not secured the rights to broadcast the tournament,” it says in a notice to customers today.
“However, AFCON 2023 games will be available through our partner broadcast stations on free-to-air (FTA) channels.”
In November, CAF announced that it has sold the broadcast rights to all it’s football content to Togo-based New World TV in a three-year deal.
Therefore, New World TV won the rights to broadcast 2023 AFCON across sub-Saharan Africa, instead of SuperSport, while beIN Sports won the rights to do so in the MENA (Middle-East and North Africa) region.
The CAF deal with New World TV also led to millions of football fans across sub-Sahara Africa being unable to watch their national teams in the opening rounds of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in November.
