Zambia public broadcaster forced to televise Junior Africa Soccer tournament after public outcry

Zambia's public broadcaster was on Wednesday forced to start providing live coverage of the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) currently underway in the country after public outcry.

On Tuesday, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) announced that it was unable to broadcast the games because it owes the Confederation of African Football (CAF) 750,000 U.S. dollars for the 2015 Senior Africa Cup of Nations tournament which it showed and has been told to pay 400,000 British Pounds to broadcast the on-going tournament.

Masuzyo Ndhlovu, the broadcaster's corporate affairs manager said the corporation could not televise the games because of the high fees involved and that it has not been granted the broadcasting rights because of the unsettled debt.

But the announcement unnerved soccer-crazy fans who took to social media to denounce the public broadcaster and asked the government to rescue it so that it could televise the games.

The public broadcaster has since rescinded the decision and announced that it will broadcast live the remaining games after negotiating with the rights holders.

Peter Shula, the broadcaster's director of sales said the rights holders have reconsidered an appeal from the broadcaster and the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) and allowed the remainder of the games to be televised.

He said during a press briefing that televising the games will give an opportunity to over 6 million viewers to follow the games.

Earlier, soccer fans took a swipe at the public broadcaster over its failure to televise the games.

According to some of the comments on social media, the soccer fans wondered why the public broadcaster could fail to show the games when it collects television levy each month from every Zambian who owns a television set and when the country was hosting the event.

"Okay this is shameful...hosting such a big tournament and the national broadcaster fails to televise it," Jollity Mudenda said in a Facebook posting.

Mapenzi Siamatendu in his Facebook posting appealed to all Zambians to boycott paying the television levy, saying it was evident that the public broadcaster was after robbing innocent citizens.

"I am appealing to all Zambians to stop paying TV levy, this is pure robbing the innocent Zambian people, how can they fail to broadcast the AFCON," he said.

Others however said they were not surprised by the public broadcaster's decision, saying it was known for incompetence and poor management.

Hakainde Hichilema, leader of the main opposition party, the United Party for National Development said the failure to televise the games was putting the country on the international spotlight, a move that may force the country not to be given rights to host future events.

"This failure is not only detrimental but also a day light robbery on Zambians who have been paying tax in form of TV levy every month. We demand on behalf of the country that with immediate effect the government pays for the live transmission of the games because citizens have been compliant and if ZNBC does not televise the games live, they must stop collecting TV levy as it is tantamount to theft," he said in a statement.

The tournament started on Sunday, with Zambia beating Guinea 1-0 in the first Group A match while Egypt and Mali settled for a draw, during games played at the National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka, the country's capital.

In Group B matches which are being played at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola city on the Copperbelt province, Senegal and Sudan settled for a 1-1 draw while South Africa beat Cameroon 3-1. Endit