Following a dispute over broadcast rights, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has agreed to allow SuperSport to broadcast the Africa Nations Championships qualifier between Kenya and Ethiopia.
The decision comes after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) threatened to ban Harambee Stars from the competition if FKF failed to rescind their decision to award the broadcast rights to Chinese firm StarTimes.
According to a statement dated July 3, 2015, and signed by CAF marketing and TV Director Amr Shaheen, any infringement on CAF TV rights and properties could result in the disqualification of the team from the competition and legal proceedings. The statement read:
Any infringement to all or part of CAF TV rights and properties, notably in cases of using the rights without a valid agreement signed with CAF violates the competitions regulations and is liable to the disqualification of our team from the competition and to legal proceedings.
After receiving this letter, FKF released a statement announcing that the production of the match would be done by SuperSport International, following an agreement between CAF, SportFive, and FKF. This marked a reversal from FKF's previous stance, which had insisted that StarTimes would broadcast the match.
The standoff between the three parties was resolved, but not before armed police surrounded the match venue on Friday evening, reportedly under instructions not to allow SuperSport crew to access the venue and set up their equipment.
The match, which took place at Nyayo National Stadium, saw Kenya require a win by three clear goals to progress to the next phase of the competition.
The recovered account cited reporting by Nairobi News.
