When Africa was connected to greatness in Randburg

THURSDAY May 24 was a special day for African football fans. It was a day Multichoice Africa chose to connect them with the events of the Russia 2018 World Cup clear two weeks before the competition’s kick off.

The event, aptly tagged ‘Connect with Greatness, drew football aficionados from across the world to the Multichoice complex in Randburg and it turned out to be a befitting prelude to the World Cup.

Laced with music and dance by Russian dancers, the event saw such football icons as Dwight Yorke, Mathew Booth, Lucas Radebe and officials of Multichoice taking the audience through what they should expect from Supersport

Mundial.

Head of Production at Supersport, Alvin Naicker, who said he has been working on the World Cup since 2002, led the journey through the expected offerings at the Russia 2018 World Cup.

“We are happy that Nigeria qualified for the World Cup with a very formidable squad because we expect Africans to follow the Super Eagles throughout the games.

“Egypt has Mo Salah, who is a huge attraction and hopefully he will lead the Pharaohs to a good outing in Russia. And then there are Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi who are huge draws to fans at major football events like the World Cup.”

Naicker revealed that during the Supersport took time to plan its broadcast of the World Cup, adding that every detail had been considered in the preparation for the competition.

“The World Cup is a massive production that we have put together in a brand new studio, which will make viewing a pleasure to the subscribers. But we are not a television station. We are a broadcast outfit feeding subscribers on different platforms with first hand information from Russia. “Supersport has a production team in Russia helping the hosts to produce contents from the venues.” He revealed that apart from the match feeds, “Supersport has planned eight other live feeds from the venues to bring to our audience behind the scene events in Russia. “We have reconstructed our studio six such that it now has seven segments that can broadcast simultaneously. Some of my colleagues around the world have been wanting to know how we were able to achieve this feat.”

He listed Dwight Yorke and Andy Townsend as among Supersport’s analysts during the World Cup, adding that they would also be part of the magazine programme, Masterplan.

“Yaya Toure, Jay Jay Okocha, Gianluca Zola, Benni Mccarthy, Pitso Matsuname, Mathew Booth and Lucas Radebe are also on the list.

‘The Insight is a programme where we have an ex-footballer looking at events from across the venues and reactions across the world. This will be anchored