NBC, football bosses in TV rights dispute

THE Namibia Football Consortium’s monopoly on sponsoring football left many Namibians puzzled after they could not view the match between the Brave Warriors and DRC on television on Saturday.

Thousands of football followers countrywide were denied the opportunity to watch the Brave Warriors in action in a match that ended in a one-all draw. The lack of television coverage of the match was the result of a court interdict obtained by the Namibia Football Association (NFA) against the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) early on Saturday, after the two failed to reach agreement on broadcasting the match on both radio and television.The reason for this was that the NBC had asked Castle Brewing Namibia to sponsor the broadcast because the NFA could not sponsor it.Castle Brewing is a direct competitor to Namibia Breweries Limited, which is one of the three companies in the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) that has a sole sponsorship agreement with the NFA.The other two members of the consortium are Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC), which has a 50 per cent stake, and First National Bank (FNB), with 25 per cent.The NBC needed at least N$40 000 to televise the match.NBC Director General Bob Kandetu said yesterday that both the NFC and NFA had indicated that they could not sponsor NBC coverage.Kandetu said Castle Brewing Namibia was willing to sponsor the broadcast to the tune of N$40 000.The NFA cried foul and said this move by the NBC contravened its agreement with the NFC and violated the regulations of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the world body Fifa.But according to Kandetu, the NBC operates under an Act of Parliament which obliges it to educate, inform and entertain the public and the broadcaster is not bound by the agreement between the NFA and NFC or governed by the CAF and Fifa constitutions.However, NFA secretary general Barry Rukoro stated in court documents that the broadcast rights of soccer matches belonged to the NFA and it had not granted the NBC the right to televise the match.Kandetu told The Namibian that the NFA approached the NBC late on Saturday, after they had obtained the interdict, and asked the broadcaster to go ahead and televise the match.The match was not screened live, however.The NFA asked One Africa Television to record the match and it will possibly be shown by that station later this week.Asked how the NBC would approach the matter in future, Kandetu said they would have to look into a better, more professional relationship with all the football stakeholders.The lack of television coverage of the match was the result of a court interdict obtained by the Namibia Football Association (NFA) against the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) early on Saturday, after the two failed to reach agreement on broadcasting the match on both radio and television.The reason for this was that the NBC had asked Castle Brewing Namibia to sponsor the broadcast because the NFA could not sponsor it.Castle Brewing is a direct competitor to Namibia Breweries Limited, which is one of the three companies in the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) that has a sole sponsorship agreement with the NFA.The other two members of the consortium are Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC), which has a 50 per cent stake, and First National Bank (FNB), with 25 per cent.The NBC needed at least N$40 000 to televise the match.NBC Director General Bob Kandetu said yesterday that both the NFC and NFA had indicated that they could not sponsor NBC coverage.Kandetu said Castle Brewing Namibia was willing to sponsor the broadcast to the tune of N$40 000.The NFA cried foul and said this move by the NBC contravened its agreement with the NFC and violated the regulations of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the world body Fifa.But according to Kandetu, the NBC operates under an Act of Parliament which obliges it to educate, inform and entertain the public and the broadcaster is not bound by the agreement between the NFA and NFC or governed by the CAF and Fifa constitutions.However, NFA secretary general Barry Rukoro stated in court documents that the broadcast rights of soccer matches belonged to the NFA and it had not granted the NBC the right to televise the match.Kandetu told The Namibian that the NFA approached the NBC late on Saturday, after they had obtained the interdict, and asked the broadcaster to go ahead and televise the match.The match was not screened live, however.The NFA asked One Africa Television to record the match and it will possibly be shown by that station later this week.Asked how the NBC would approach the matter in future, Kandetu said they would have to look into a better, more professional relationship with all the football stakeholders.