SuperSport's World Cup coverage uses football idols

The coverage will be a multi-platform offering with TV, digital, social, Catch-Up and Video-on-Demand, all featuring great FIFA World Cup elements.

Big names

Manchester United superstar Ryan Giggs, former World Cup winner Marcel Desailly of France, English legend John Barnes and former Spanish star Gaizka Mendieta are among the big-name football personalities who will be analysing matches for SuperSport.

Sammy Kuffour, Jay Jay Okocha, Shaun Bartlett, Andre Arendse, Andy Townsend, Sunday Oliseh, Neil Tovey, Ernst Middendorp, Ruud Krol, Stuart Baxter, Gavin Hunt and Doctor Khumalo will join them.

The Maximo (Portuguese) channel headliners are Oliveira Gonçalves, former head coach of the Angolan national team, Bernardino Pedroto, winner of five national championships, and former international José Luís Vidigal.

SuperSport will offer two 24-hour channels - one in HD (SS3HD), one in SD (SS3) - for the duration of the tournament with four language options - English, Portuguese, Sotho and isiZulu. Every match will be broadcast live. For the eight matches that run concurrently, in the last-round round-robin stage, SS4HD and SS4 will feature these fixtures.

Augmented reality

For the first time, the World of Champions' presentation will include augmented reality, utilising the latest technology. Using high-end graphics, the channel will take viewers into 3-D representations of all stadiums, enabling experts to analyse the game like never before. This is the first time this technology will be used on the continent.

It has also undergone a multi-million Rand refurbishment of its high definition studio to coincide with the World Cup. "We've invested heavily in the latest technology. It's a multi-faceted facility that offers a range of broadcast options. Plus we've revamped the adjoining studio-entertainment area that now includes a fan zone and is multi-purpose," says Alvin Naicker, SuperSport's head of production.