Word reaching the Siya crew is that SABC and SAFA are now at an impasse over their negotiations for new television rights for Bafana Bafana, Banyana Banyana as well as the junior national teams.
Soccer Laduma has previously reported that the contract between the two parties expired in September last year and the arrangement entered into for the remainder of 2023 was on a match-by-match basis.
But the behind-the-scenes talks were exposed publicly last Friday when the public broadcaster failed to show Banyana's away Olympic qualifier against Tanzania, with SAFA then running to pay-channel SuperSport to bail them out.
This publication has been informed the issue here is the amount of money being requested by the football mother body.
What SABC were paying SAFA for the previous deal had reduced drastically over the years, having gone from R110 million per annum to a measly R25-million.
Part of the revenue decline at Nasrec is not only due to a lack of sponsorship, but the low figure agreed to when the deal with the national broadcaster was agreed on, with some experts in the industry arguing that SAFA were lowballed.
It appears as though they are now taking that advice and not expecting the same terms moving forward, hence the current snag with upcoming matches.
SABC will continue to televise Bafana's games, but only if they are CAF qualifiers for either the Afcon or the World Cup – they have secured those until the end of the 2024 season. However, friendlies and Olympic qualifiers fall under a different scope.
