Sky Sports secures rights to Africa Cup of Nations

Sky Sports will air the leading professional football tournament Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in the UK which gets underway on January 13.

In a new deal signed with Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF), the UK pay TV operator will broadcast live every game of the 34th edition of AFCON, including the final on February 11.

AFCON matches will be shown on Sky Sports Football or Sky Sports Mix, and will also be live streamed via NOW.

Sky Sports previously covered all 52 games from AFCON 2022, with 10 games showed on free-to-air broadcaster BBC.

The football competition taking place in Ivory Coast features 24 teams, including current title holders Senegal. Current and former Premier League players set to play in the competition are Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, Cameroon’s Andre Onana, Ghana’s Mohammed Kudus, as well as Senegal’s Pape Sarr, Nicolas Jackson and Sadio Mane.

Sports rights agency IMG recently secured the exclusive rights to distribute the international media rights for CAF’s events in 85-plus countries from 2023-2025. Excluding the Middle East and Africa, IMG will manage the broadcast deals for the next two editions of AFCON tournament including the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations Côte d’Ivoire 2023 and the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 – as well as the tournament’s qualifiers.

Sky Sports said it will also deliver more AFCON content across its digital and social channels. VodafoneZiggo are also among those providing coverage of AFCON.