Beaming of Algeria, Flames doubtful

As of yesterday, there were still doubts as to whether soccer loving Malawians will be able to watch the proceedings as they unfold in Algeria tonight where the Flames take on the Desert Fennecs in a 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Group B qualifier.

The match is penciled for Stade 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers from 9.30pm.

SuperSport beamed last Saturday’s first leg at Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre, but will not beam tonight’s encounter as it is not among the five games that they will beam live.

MultiChoice Malawi marketing manager Chimwemwe Nyirenda also confirmed that the match is not on SuperSport’s live schedule.

Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) public relations manager Ruth Gama said as of yesterday, they were trying to strike a deal with their Algerian counterparts to provide them with the feed to show the match.

“As a public broadcaster, MBC is trying its level best to show the match on Wednesday between Algeria and Malawi. MBC is looking at various ways including engaging the Algeria national broadcaster to show this match.

“MBC is also in discussions with other key stakeholders to look at a possibility of showing this match. If this fails, it would have been as a result of high match rights rates that are on offer now,” wrote Gama in a response to a questionnaire.

CAF sold exclusive rights of broadcasting the match to Sport5 and it is reported that the rights are pegged at $150 000 [about K66.4 million]

However, Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS) will air the match on radio through its commentator Mike Bango who is in Algiers.