The African Cup of Nations kicked off on Saturday, 19th January 2002. The tournament has drawn a great amount of interest and is being strongly supported by soccer fans on the African continent (Internationally?). The SABC, the official broadcast partner of the African Cup of Nations 2002 in Mali, expects to see huge growth in soccer audiences during the tournament.
The SABC predicts the over 15 million viewers will tune in to SABC Topsport and watch the African Cup of Nations between 19th January to 10th February. An if Bafana Bafana do make the finals, these figures are expected to climb dramatically.
"As the custodian of national sport broadcasting, we are excited to bring Bafana Bafana's progress from Mali. Soccer has long been known as the sport of the nation, and this tournament is undoubtedly a highlight in this year's sporting events," says Mvuso Mbebe, Managing Director, SABC Sport.
The rights to televise the games, underpinned by the new SAFA/SABC agreement consolidates the SABC’s position to provide quality programmes to its audiences and ensuring accessibility to the nation of world class sporting events. The agreement with SAFA is an exclusive, worldwide, two-year broadcast partnership providing the rights to broadcast to fans so that they are able to watch and support their team as they perform on the global stage.
The African Cup of Nations Tournament will be broadcast on Topsport on SABC1, SABC2 and SABC radio.
