SABC Sport has learnt New World TV and CAF have entered into a three-year deal as the rights holders of 13 competitions in total, which will include the 2023 and 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournaments across 46 countries in the region, including South Africa.

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The deal is estimated to be worth around R1.5 billion, and any TV station that wants to broadcast these tournaments will now have to go through New World TV, which recently held a press conference in Lome to announce the developments, although CAF is yet to officially announce it.

New World TV spokesperson Louis Biyao has said they have beaten big international companies to this deal.

“This is the first time an African company has obtained exclusive rights to broadcast CAF competitions. The New World TV group achieved a feat by winning this contract against other large African and international companies,” he commented.

“This demonstrates the expertise acquired over the last two years with the broadcasting rights for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, UEFA football competitions, English FA Cup, Bundesliga, Spanish Cup, and Italian Cup.”

The Togolese company will broadcast the upcoming AFCON in Ivory Coast from Lome to the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa in French, English, Portuguese, and indigenous languages such as Lingala, Wolof, Bambara, Swahili, and Ewe.

The other CAF competitions forming part of this deal include CAF men’s and women’s Champions League, the CAF Women’s AFCON, CAF Confederation Cup, U17 and U20 AFCON, and Beach AFCON.

The conclusion of this deal brings to an end to the debate for the much sought-after and yet pragmatic CAF TV rights for Sub-Saharan Africa, which were previously held by the African Union of Broadcasters (AUB), SuperSport International, and Canal Plus.

FTA stations in the 46 countries looking to broadcast the AFCON and any other CAF competitions would now have to sublicense the rights through New World TV.

With CAF also back on good terms with Qatari broadcasters beIN Sports, the broadcast rights for North Africa and the Gulf region (MENA) are back in their hands.

SABC Sport has further established that there is one more major CAF TV rights deal set to be announced soon, which is touted as a potential game-changer for the Patrice Motsepe-led organisation.

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