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Cape Town – FIFA has put South African broadcasters on alert following confirmation of the opening of a tender process for TV rights for the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) qualifiers for the 2022 Soccer World Cup in Qatar.
According to the SowetanLIVE, the process for the hotly contended rights opened on Monday and submissions are welcomed until they close on Monday, December 16.
CAF sold the 2014 and 2018 World Cup qualifiers rights to SportFive before the company integrated into Lagardere Sports in 2015.
Following the 2018 World Cup, all African nations opted to individually sell their broadcasting rights and subsequently FIFA secured a deal promising double revenue to all 54 countries.
"FIFA has opened an invitation to tender (ITT) for the centralised media rights to all matches in the second round of qualifying, as well as the third-round playoffs, which will determine the final five teams from Africa that will play at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022," FIFA said in a statement released.
"Following an agreement with all 54 member associations of CAF in August, the media rights to all African qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 are being managed under a centralised sales model by FIFA.
"The media rights will cover TV, internet, mobile and radio transmissions."
The South African public have not been able to watch any official CAF matches since the association cancelled their $1 billion broadcasting deal with Lagardere earlier this month.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and SuperSport have not acquired viewing rights to official CAF matches outside of South Africa - which includes Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, CAF Champions League, CAF Confederations Cup and Under-23 AFCON.
Soccer fans recently missed out on the 2021 AFCON qualifier between Bafana Bafana and Ghana last Thursday, but were able to watch Molefi Ntseki’s charges beat Sudan on SABC 1 last Sunday.
- Compiled by Tashreeq Vardien
