MBC to beam Afcon finals
Public broadcaster Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) says it will beam the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals which kicks off on January 13 to February 11 in Ivory Coast.
MBC public relations and customer affairs manager Chisomo Mwamadi in an interview yesterday said they would like to give football fans a chance to join the continent’s football festival.
He said: “As a public broadcaster, we have to beam this one and we are working around the clock to give Malawians Afcon.”
Although they are yet to secure the Afcon rights, Mwamadi said negotiations on acquiring them are at advanced stage.
He said: “Negotiations for the rights are ongoing as we speak. But we are confident that we should be beaming the Afcon. We will conclude the negotiations in the next few days.”
MBC’s commitment to beam the Afcon is a relief to football fans after digital satellite television service providers MultiChoice Malawi, announced they would not be able to do so.
In a statement released on Monday, MultiChoice said they would not be able to beam the tournament through its SuperSport channel after failing to secure the rights.
The statement reads in part: “SuperSport Channel will not broadcast the Africa Cup of Nations 2023 scheduled for January 13 to February 11 2024 because the channel has not secured the rights to broadcast the tournament.
“However, Afcon 2023 games will be available through our partner broadcast stations on free to air channel. MultiChoice remains committed to ensuring football fans across Africa continue to enjoy unrivalled access to entertainment and football games on DStv and GOtv platforms.”
Football analysts Kimu Kamau and Parry Chinyama described MBC’s move as a welcome development, but hit out at MultiChoice for disappointing football lovers in Africa.
Kamau said: “Most of us have paid DStv subscription for this month to watch the Afcon finals on SuperSport, which assures top quality broadcasts and analyses. It is really very disappointing that we will not be able to watch the games on SuperSport.”
On his part, Chinyama said: “It is frustrating to note that they are able to broadcast all European competitions on SuperSport but not Afcon, which showcases all African talents. I don’t know why they don’t have respect for African customers.”
MultiChoice Malawi head of marketing Yuk-yen Au-yeung asked for more time to respond to The Nation’s questionnaire about the football lovers’ concerns.
The Malawi National Football Team, The Flames, who qualified for the last edition held in Cameroon,did not qualify for the 2023 Afcon finals, but five fellow Council for Southern Africa Football Associations members are at the tournament.
Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia and Angola are representing the Cosafa region.
