FIFA has launched two invitation-to-tender documents in sub-Saharan Africa for the media rights to the men’s 2022 FIFA World Cup as well as the 2023 women’s tournament.
A deadline of 10am on 23 February has been set by the football governing body for the first round of bidding.
The largest pay-television networks providing coverage of FIFA football tournaments in the region so far have been StarTimes, Kwesé and SuperSport, with the latter controlling the most lucrative market in South Africa.
Some free-to-air companies have also held broadcasting rights in the past, notably Media Business Solutions, which provided coverage in Cameroon, Mali and Togo.
CanalPlus is also a major contender in the bidding race, having held exclusive French rights across the region. However, any bids by the network may be affected by the firm’s ongoing dispute with the Professional Football League (LFP) in France over the media rights to the country’s Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 domestic club football tournaments.
The following territories are covered in both of the tenders: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Congo DR, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
