FAM blames Fifa for TV rights deal delay
Football Association of Malawi (FAM) has said the change of personnel at Fifa has affected progress of the prospective television rights deal with SuperSport.
FAM chief executive officer Suzgo Nyirenda on Wednesday said Fifa has not yet sent eight cameras it pledged to facilitate regular production and live beaming of local matches in return for revenue that would be realised through TV rights.
Nyirenda disclosed that a South African TV and marketing firm Flame 24 has offered to provide an outside broadcasting (OB) vehicle as part of the project and once Fifa sends the required cameras, FAM and Sulom will proceed with talks with SuperSport on the deal.
“Flame 24 provides feeds to broadcasting stations such as Sabc. They were in the country recently and they offered to provide an OB vehicle for the beaming of the games.
“They showed us their profile and met our head of marketing [Dan Tambala]. We have had preliminary discussions on how we can partner. The good thing is that Sulom and TNM have been kept abreast on the developments, but before we can enter into serious talks, we have asked them to send us necessary documentation as regards their offer. Once that is done, we can set the ball rolling,” said Nyirenda.
He said a South Africa-based consultant Ian Riley already committed to facilitate the deal with SuperSport.
However, last October, Nyirenda indicated that apart from the cameras, Fifa had also pledged to provide the OB van, but it appears they will only provide cameras. Nyirenda could not say how much the OB van deal would cost.
He said the coming in of the apparatus will be a turning point for local football because it will offer them a great deal of exposure and help clubs generate reasonable income.
Sulom general secretary Williams Banda confirmed being copied the correspondence between FAM and Flame 24, but said until the offer is made, it would be difficult for the league to give its position.
A number of neighbouring countries such as South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania are in TV rights deals with SuperSport that is earning them extra revenue.
