CAF hits Egyptian FA with fine over broadcast dispute

The Confederation of African Football has fined the Egyptian Football Association $2m (€1.6m) for violating a broadcast rights agreement during the qualifying competition for the 2014 Fifa World Cup national team tournament.

The case stems from an episode in October 2013 when pay-television broadcaster beIN Sports threatened to sue the state broadcaster of Egypt, Egyptian Television Network, after it showed a World Cup qualifier featuring the national team.

In the first-leg game in the African region’s World Cup qualifying play-offs on October 15, 2013, Egypt suffered a heavy 6-1 defeat in Ghana.

BeIN Sports claimed that it owned the rights to the game and added that the broadcaster had violated the company’s agreement with the CAF by showing the match.

The Reuters news agency said a CAF letter to the EFA on Sunday revealed that the fine will be taken from the federation’s share of broadcast revenues from future qualifying competitions.

CAF rejected the EFA’s request to extend the deadline for settling its dispute with beIN Sports beyond December 31, 2014.