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THE Confederation of African Football (CAF) is demanding US$2 000 from the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) for the “illegal” live broadcast of two continental matches involving Caps United and Monomotapa.

European sports rights company Sportfive, part of Lagardere Sports hold the broadcasting rights for the CAF Champions League and Confederations Cup.

The broadcasting rig-hts are part of a long-term agreement betwe-en Sportfive and CAF. The French company also holds exclusive marketing and media rights for the African Nations Cup until 2016.

The State broadcaster however beamed “illegally” the African Champions League match between Premiership champions, Monomotapa and Zanzibar’s Miembeni FC at Rufaro Stadium on February 1 without authority.

The broadcaster went on to beam the Caps United’s Confederation Cup game against Egypt’s ENNPI at the same venue on March 1.

Henrietta Rushwaya, the Zifa chief executive officer said ZBC’s cover was blown by a match commissioner, after he learnt that the Caps match had been broadcast live without authority. He lodged a report with CAF.

“ZBC needs to be educated about television rights,” Rushwaya said.

Despite the demands by CAF, the broadcaster went to beam live the Champions League match pitting Monomotapa and Ajax Cape Town at Rufaro Stadium on April 5.

Cash-strapped Monomotapa have also threatened to take legal action against ZBC, after it lost revenue as fans decided to stay at home and watch the match “free of charge” on television.

ZBC were granted the right to broadcast the African Champions Lea-gue last year, when Dynamos reached the semi-finals of the cash-rich tournament last year.

According to the agreement, ZBC were allowed to beam the matches by “terrestrial mode only” in the host country and on the exclusive condition, they broadcast the official credits, commercials and spots supplied by the holder of TV rights.

The beaming was allowed on condition that ZBC would air the official CAF sequence, including the logos of the official sponsor. The commercial advertising spots of each sponsor would be 30 per spot aired immediately before kick-off.

However, in the latest twist, ZBC invited advertisers for the “illegal” live broadcast of the Champions League and pocketed the proceeds.

It costs US$100 a minute to flight an advert on ZBC television. Some of the major advertisers during the live broadcasts of soccer matches were Pinnacle Properties, owned by flamboyant Harare businessman Philip Chiyangwa.

ZBC public relations officer, Sivukile Simango, said he “was not sure what happened with regards to this case”.

(Source: thezimbabwestandard.com)