Africa

South Africa national team football matches will be shown on free-to-air television in the country, according to pay-television broadcaster Siyaya TV, which has agreed a six-year rights deal with the South African Football Association (SAFA).

Algerian state broadcaster ENTV has retained rights for Ligue 1, the country’s top division of football.

The South African Football Association’s new media rights deal with pay-television broadcaster Siyaya TV would appear to be in doubt after public-service broadcaster the SABC questioned the validity of reports that the agreement had been finalised.

New pay-television broadcaster Siyaya TV has acquired media rights in South Africa for the country’s national football team matches.

The 3Vision Distribution agency has secured a deal to distribute rights for the 2014 Cosafa Cup, which features national football teams from sub-Saharan Africa.

OSN has acquired the exclusive pay-television broadcast rights in the Middle East and North Africa region to events organised by the WWE wrestling organisation.

Digital-terrestrial operator StarTimes has launched a new sports channel, StarTimes Sport 2, in South Africa.

The Fox International Channels broadcast subsidiary of media company 21st Century Fox has rebranded the Setanta Africa channels under the Fox Sports banner following last year’s deal to acquire the pay-television sports broadcaster, which operates in the sub-Saharan region of the continent.

The IMG Media agency has promoted Adam Kelly to head of sales for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

South African public-service broadcaster the SABC is facing a shortfall of more than R500m (€34.4m/$46.7m) in its sports coverage in the 2014-15 financial year, according to acting chief executive Tian Olivier.

The Communications Authority of Kenya has proposed new legislation that would force pay-television broadcasters to share ‘exclusive’ content.

The Kombat Sport pay-television channel has agreed a deal with the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) to broadcast highlights of the inaugural Mixed Martial Arts World Championships in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.

The Kenyan High Court has blocked Zuku TV and Star Times from showing further coverage of football’s 2014 Fifa World Cup after state-run broadcaster KBC applied for an injunction against the pay-television operators.

The Nigerian Olympic Committee is seeking sponsors to fund a television rights deal that will allow Nigerians to watch the 2014 Commonwealth Games live on terrestrial television.

State-run Malawi Broadcasting Corporation has acquired exclusive rights for football’s 2014 Fifa World Cup national team tournament.

The IMG Media agency has agreed new deals for rights to the World Series of Fighting mixed martial arts series.