Why Nigerians Won’t See Next English FA Cup Live

Duro Ikhazuagbe

After Nigerians missed the live broadcast of the traditional season opening FA Community Shield match Manchester City defeated Chelsea 2-0 last Sunday, the worst is yet to come.

THISDAY checks have revealed that football fans in the country are not going to see the live broadcast of world’s oldest cup competition, the FA Cup when it kicks off in England.

It was learnt that the no-show situation is a fall-out of the award of the rights to a new entrant into the Pay TV operator in the Nigerian territory.

In what is now similar to how HiTV, the failed Pay TV channel snatched the broadcast right of the English Premier League from DSTV with outrageous bid, the new operator (name withheld), also offered what industry watchers termed ‘mind-boggling’ fees to grab the rights for both the FA Cup and the Community Shield.

Now, the new operators have been unable to meet up with the financial obligations to the rights owners, a development that made them pull the plug on the broadcast deal for the Community Shield which denied Nigerian football fans (the first time in decades) the chance to see how Sergio Aguero last weekend put away the two goals that earned City their first trophy of the new season.

This same new operator that promised to crash subscription rates for Pay TV in the country, appears to have bitten more than it can chew as it is now likely to jerk up rates in order to recoup the ‘bogus’ bid fund for the two football property.

Sadly, Nigerian football fans took on the wrong horse to vent their anger

on the social media for the Community Shield no-show in Nigeria territory.

MultiChoice, owners of DStv and GOtv who previously had the rights to the two football property was forced to issue a statement to exonerate the two Pay TV channels from blame on the Community Shield match.

The provider, on its official Twitter handle @DStvNg, had to explain that it does not have the rights to the FA Cup and Community Shield matches.

“Dear esteemed subscribers, we don’t have rights to air the FA Cup & Community Shield this year, but you can enjoy pulsating football action from the #PL, #UCL, #LaLiga & the recently added Italian #SerieA and Uefa Nations League. Thanks for choosing DStv,” the provider said in the tweet.