Africa is bracing for its biggest Men’s football tournament – the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. East Africa region will be represented by Tanzania and DR Congo in the tournament that will kick off on the 13th of January 2023 with the opening match between the host Nation Ivory Coast and Guinea-Bissau, to the 11th of February 2024 in Ivory Coast. Tanzania and DR Congo are both in Group F and will battle it out against Morocco and Zambia.
Teams who qualified for the tournament are gearing up for the event.
Tanzania and DR Congo to Represent East Africa in the Africa Cup of Nation 2023.
Fans across Africa and the world at large are also putting in final preparations to experience the tournament either by making a trip to the Ivory Coast or watching the tournament from the comfort of their homes. In the wake of this SuperSport which is the biggest sports television channel operated by Multichoice in South Africa will not be broadcasting the tournament live.
For a long time, SuperSport – the Multichoice-owned sports network – has been one of the most reliable and regular broadcasters of all African competitions over the years, but of late, they have shown less appetite for displaying CAF competitions. In a statement released by SuperSport parent company Multichoice on the 3rd of January 2024, Multichoice revealed that they failed to secure the rights to air the continental spectacle. Multichoice however added that AFCON 2023 games will be available through their partnered broadcast stations on Free to Air (FTA) channels.
2027 AFCON hosts – the PAMOJA bid.
CAF awarded Togo’s New World TV with the broadcasting rights and CAF president Patrice Motsepe has described the agreement as a mega deal that no other broadcaster could match. In addition to New World TV, Viaplay – the Sweden-based media and entertainment company – has also secured the rights to broadcast the tournament.
Initially, AFCON always took place in June and July but the 33rd edition in the summer of 2021, was moved to January and February due to the “unfavorable climatic conditions” in Cameroon in June and July, before COVID-19 forced the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to postpone the event until the start of 2022.