The Confederation of African Football (Caf), which announced on Saturday it had shortlisted two agencies for its $1bn (R17.6bn) broadcast rights, is about to declare a profit for the first time in eight years.
The continental governing body is thriving under the presidency of Patrice Motsepe - and more significantly, perhaps, is the clear trickle-down benefit for players themselves.
Motsepe wants to see Caf grow even further with the broadcast deal, which was put out for tender on the open market in 2023 for the first time in its 68 years of existence.
After attracting interest from several broadcasters across the world, Caf has settled for two agencies: IMG and Iris Sport Media.
From the winning bid, the organisation, presided over by Motsepe, will raise a guaranteed minimum of $1bn in eight years.
The winning agency will be entrusted with responsibilities that include:
- Marketing Caf competitions;
- Growing the organisation’s revenue;
- Attracting new financial and commercial investments;
- Repackaging the Caf product and making it among the best in the world; and
- Establishing, together with Caf, a new commercial arm that will drive Motsepe’s initiative for the body’s new commercial strategy.
IMG is an American-owned sports agency currently working with the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol), which is one of the six Fifa continental confederations. It handles tennis tournaments such as Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and holds English Premier League rights for the US.
There is a huge amount of money earmarked for marketing, advertising, broadcasting, and a whole range of expertise that is required so that when this agreement comes to an end, Caf will have world-class expertise like Uefa, North America, Conmebol and the like.
— Patrice Motsepe, Caf president
Iris Sport Media is an Italian organisation owned by Ioris Francini. The UK-registered company is the agency in charge of selling Fifa television rights.
Speaking at a Caf press conference ahead of the conclusion of the African Nations Championship (Chan) tournament, Motsepe said Caf was negotiating with the companies. “Two agencies have been identified and when we started this process, I said Fifa has some of the most experienced people when it comes to tenders of this nature.
“We are building infrastructure so that there will be African skills. There is a huge amount of money earmarked for marketing, advertising, broadcasting, and a whole range of expertise that is required so that when this agreement comes to an end, Caf will have world-class expertise like Uefa, North America, Conmebol and the like,” he said.
“We want to look back and say it was an honour to make a contribution to African football. The people who take over from me have to continue with the work, and make sure that the agreements that we have concluded will change the face of African football forever.”
When Motsepe took over the reins in March 2021 Caf was in debt to the tune of $140m. In October Caf will declare a profit of $9m for the first time in eight years and revenue has jumped by $150m (about R2.65bn).
In the last five years prize money for all Caf competitions has increased by more than $20m.
The Africa Cup of Nations winners’ cheque increased from $2m to $7m, while the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations champions now pocket $1m, up from $200,000. The winners of last night’s Chan final took home $3.5m, up from $1.5m.
All 125 clubs in the Champions League and the Confederation Cup now get a participation fee of $100,000 each, while Women’s Champions League queens get $600,000.
The Chan tournament, which concluded with Morocco beating Madagascar 3-2 in last night’s final, was the first to be organised across three countries.
The Chan tournament, which concluded with last night's final between Morocco and Madagascar, was the first to be organised across three countries. “It was the first in the East African region which has more than 140-million people. Sudan went to the semifinals. The excitement of the competition has been enormous for the growth of football,” said Motsepe.
“Some stadiums were empty but every match of the local team was packed. It is a wonderful basis to proceed for the future. The attendance was 30 to 40% in some of the games. Today [yesterday’s final] is sold-out, and none of the host countries are playing. That is a wonderful basis to proceed for the future.”
Motsepe said he wanted to see full stadiums. “We have to believe in our people. This competition was supposed to take place in February [but was moved to August to get the stadiums ready]. Other countries said: ‘We are ready, bring it to us [to host]’. But we have an objective to develop football in East Africa ... I insisted that the competition must take place here to see what challenges and deficiencies we have.
“There were legitimate problems in Cameroon, people saying ‘cancel’ but we] insisted we would fix the problems [of infrastructure development]. It is important that every member of the 54 African countries plays in their own countries. Within Caf we have taken the initiative to make sure that there is a balance.”
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