SABC saves the day to avert Soweto derby-AFL final clash
● The SABC has stepped in to avert a fixture clash in which the Soweto derby and the African Football League (AFL) final would have been played on the same day, Saturday.
Wydad play Mamelodi Sundowns in the first leg in Casablanca tonight but the second leg has been moved to Sunday after the public broadcaster told AFL organisers it would not be able to broadcast the event as it was committed to show Kaizer Chiefs host Orlando Pirates at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
The inaugural AFL tournament carries R75m prize money with a R57m cheque for the winners and R32m for runners-up.
Sundowns’ progress to the final via a 1-0 aggregate victory over Caf Champions League kings Al Ahly — to face Moroccan giants Wydad, who edged Tunisia’s Esperance 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate draw — created a fixture conundrum.
The games were scheduled for the same day and time at FNB and Loftus Stadiums on Saturday. The AFL had an agreement with the SABC that the two-legged final would be on November 5 and 11, without knowing which teams would qualify for the final.
The Sunday Times can reveal that the dates were decided by the AFL. Wydad and Sundowns were informed, and it was compulsory for the two clubs to announce the dates on their websites.
A source with intimate knowledge of what happened behind the scenes told the Sunday Times “the SABC saved the day” by producing a solution to prevent the two mega events being played simultaneously. “The big objector to this fixture clash was the SABC. When it [the clash] became the real issue, it was at the point where SABC got involved,” said the insider.
“When the final fixtured Wydad against Sundowns, AFL people informed the teams of the dates and made the announcement at a press conference. It was compulsory for Wydad and Sundowns to announce it on their websites. AFL does the negotiation. Sundowns and Wydad are participants.
“The AFL went to the SABC, and they were told ‘no dice, we can’t broadcast the AFL final because on that day there is a derby, same date, same day, same kickoff for showing the biggest game on the SA soccer calender’.
“It was a case of, you can’t cannibalise from the local league. You can’t disturb the local league’s programmes and operations. The people at Auckland Park (SABC headquarters) initiated that the AFL final either be a delayed kickoff or moved to Sunday.”
AFL organisers reached out to the Confederation of African Football on whose behalf it is running the event.
Africa’s football governing body “agreed with the SABC that having the game on the same day as the Soweto derby would be tantamount to cannibalising or disturbing the PSL programme”.
The AFL went back to the SABC to seek a solution. The broadcaster offered the alternative of a later kickoff or shifting the AFL final to Sunday.
“Part of the AFL principle is to not do anything [against the league]. If your aim is to grow football and not to disrupt it, then you have to be considerate and make sure that whatever you do doesn’t disrupt the commercial and operational activities of the league,” said the insider.
“That was the agreement between them and Caf. Whether the match was in Casablanca or in Cairo, and there was a big local match there, the position was that you cannot disturb the local league activities. In the case of South Africa, the [Soweto] derby is the crown jewel of the PSL. If you interfere with that, you are disrupting it.”
The behind-the-scenes manoeuvrings from Wednesday night climaxed on Friday night when Caf president Patrice Motsepe, after “engaging stakeholders involved in organising the event”, moved the AFL final to Sunday.
Caf head of TV and broadcast Luxolo September said Motsepe took the decision in the interest of African football.
“The reality of it is that Caf is the mother body of football in Africa. Whatever we do is in the interest of African football. The final was initially going to be on Saturday. But president Motsepe decided to move it to Sunday following consultation with the PSL,” he said.
“We have reached an agreement with the SABC to have the game on Sunday at 15.00. The match will be shown in over 40 countries on beIN Sports, Ahu Dhabi Sports and most of north Africa and many (sub-Saharan) African countries.”
It will also be flighted in France and the UK. Fifa+ free streaming will show the match to their global audience, except in countries where beIN Sports and Abu Dhabi Sports are available.
A Caf official who spoke on condition of anonymity said “a fixture clash was going to be a self-defeating exercise for everyone involved”.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino is expected to attend.