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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has brought to an end its dispute with beIN Sports which trailed the recent cancellation of a broadcast deal and subsequent threats of legal action by the Qatar-based pay-television broadcaster.
CAF on Thursday said, it will “recommit to its partnership” with the broadcaster after the parties “reached agreement on the matters that were in dispute”.
They also said that it conducted discussions with beIN which have “resulted in the re-establishment of a mutually beneficial partnership between the parties”.
CAF through their legal team made know to beIN on September 1 that the organisation would rip off its 12-year, $415m (€387m) contract, signed in 2017. This was CAF’s biggest broadcast deal in any market but there exist claims, CAF were owed $94m by beIN.
Responding to the allegation, beIN chief executive Yousef Al-Obaidly said that they would take up all possible legal actions to challenge the move.
This move by CAF came in the wake of the final round of African Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers, hence leaving CAF with no broadcast exposure across more than 40 countries in the beIN Sports-contracted markets, mainly in the Middle East, North Africa, France (French language), the Asia-Pacific region and some North American countries
It is understood that the new terms covers and spread across all facet of CAF events, which also include the 2025 Afcon.
According to CAF president Patrice Motsepe “we are deeply committed to promoting and advancing the interest of all its sponsors and partners and building mutually beneficial relationships with them and with all our stakeholders”.
BeIN in response to the agreement has issued a short statement, stating that it is “pleased all matters have been positively resolved”.
It can be recalled that in 2019 CAF abruptly cancelled its $1bn global sponsorship and media rights deal with Lagardère Sports. The defunct Lagardere sport, now known as Sportfive sought compensation, stating that the termination of the deal was “unlawful, unreasonable and unjustified”. The deal was to run until 2028.
CAF initiated a sort of broadcast right sales processes in May for sub-Saharan Africa and international markets for its flagship competitions between 2023 and 2025. The invitation to tender (ITT) does not include markets where beIN’s right covers.
