Safa has accused the South African Broadcast Commission (SABC) of misinforming the public following the debacle surrounding the new broadcast agreement for Bafana Bafana matches.
The South African public was handed a blow when Safa confirmed that it would not televise the upcoming Bafana and Banyana Banyana clashes, after discussions with the SABC, which began in October last year, hit a snag.
Safa’s acting chief executive officer Russell Paul maintained that the SABC insulted them with the R10-million offer, which was said to be R100m lower than last year’s offer.
Paul went on to say that SABC chief operating officer Chris Maroleng got it wrong when publicising statements on radio as to why the games wouldn’t be televised, and clarified rumours claiming that SABC trucks had turned up at the FNB Stadium and had been turned away.
“We had already deployed our outside broadcasting van to FNB stadium and we did this in good faith, anticipating we would be able to broadcast. However SAFA denied us acces to the venue and we have returned our equipment to our headquarters”- Chris Maroleng SABC COO @SAfmRadio
— Tracksuit (@ThabisoMosia) October 12, 2018
‘We saw a tweet‚ somewhere along the lines‚ and I think attributed to the COO‚ that the SABC sent their trucks to FNB Stadium for this match and their trucks were turned away‚’ Paul told Times Live.
‘The first issue that we fail to understand is why the trucks were allegedly sent to FNB when SABC don’t have a contract. The SABC themselves are the ones who say‚ “No contract‚ no game.”
‘So why would they send their trucks if they did not have a contract? “Allegedly” sent their trucks‚ I might add.
‘Secondly‚ both ourselves and Stadium Management [the company that oversees FNB Stadium] have checked – and we know the stadium – and there was never an SABC truck that was at the stadium and turned away. There were one or two cars that were there but never an OB [outside broadcast] truck.
‘In any event‚ had they pitched there, we would have turned them away. But they were never there.
‘We note that the COO of the SABC was online saying that Safa had made demands that were 10 times more.
‘That is untrue. If anything, the SABC is offering to pay us 11 times less than what they paid us before. And that’s something that the record needs to show.
‘We recognise that the South African public has been denied the opportunity of watching their beloved Bafana Bafana. We empathise with them but I think they must also understand that there’s a case to be made over here,’ he concluded.
Photo: SABC website
