By Nurudeen Obalola
Nigerians and others across Sub-Saharan Africa will soon be able to watch CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup matches again on cable television following a new deal between the Confederation of African Football and SuperSport.
The competitions used to be a regular feature on SuperSport, but they have not been available on the cable service for some time due to rights issues.
CAF confirmed the new deal on Monday, which will apply to this season’s group phase and the knockout stages, with the Women’s Champions League included.
“The Confédération Africaine de Football (“CAF”) today announced new media rights and TV agreements for the 2024/2025 CAF Interclub Competitions following a successful bidding process for the pay TV (English) and Free to Air (all languages) in Sub-Saharan African territory,” the continental body stated on its website on Monday.
“The rights include African football’s premium Club competitions: TotalEnergies CAF Champions League 2024/2025, TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup 2024/25, CAF Women’s Champions League 2024 and TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup 2025.
“CAF reached agreements with SuperSport International for the PayTV rights (in English) and South African Broadcasting Corporation (“SABC”) and Azam Media for the Free to Air (“FTA”) rights.”
CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe, who incidentally is a South African, said: “The exponential growth and global competitiveness of football in Africa has resulted in substantial interest from major African and international broadcasters in African Football.
“SuperSport, SABC and Azam Media have been participating competitively in the CAF Media Rights bids. CAF welcomes them all as partners, joining a number of CAF’s Media Rights holders. We are committed to ensuring that CAF’s Competitions including its Broadcast products are world class.”
CAF claimed that TV audiences during the 2023/2024 Champions League grew by over 25% in North Africa while East Africa and Southern Africa saw growth of over 40% in both TV audiences and digital engagement.
The only Nigerian club left in the men’s competitions are Enyimba, who are in the CAF Confederation Cup group phase, while Edo Queens will feature in the Women’s Champions League.
