Football fans can now enjoy AFCON

The much anticipated AFCON games which are jointly hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, kicked off on Saturday, 21 January. Many football lovers were disgruntled when they learned that the national broadcaster would not be broadcasting the games due to a lack of funds but telecommunications company, MTC stepped in at the last minute to pay for broadcasting rights.
The director general of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), Albertus Aochamub, said that they were unable to broadcast the games due to the expensive broadcast rights but MTC has sponsored the total N$550,000 allowing thousands of Namibians to watch the games live.
Tim Ekandjo, chief human capital and corporate affairs officer criticised the rights holders for setting “unrealistic and exorbitantly high prices which struggling public broadcasters are not able to afford.” He added that AFCON is of a national and continental interest and Namibians must enjoy this event without unnecessary cost restrictions and  that grantors of the broadcast rights must look at the interest of the people before setting such high broadcasting fees.
When asked whether NBC will broadcast the next AFCON games, Aochamub said that they would want to broadcast the games, but that  it depends on whether sponsors will come on board.
He added that the games also make it difficult for many sponsors to invest in the opportunity since a return on investment would depend on Namibians following their team and its progress.