Secretary-General of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Hicham El Amrani, yesterday criticized Nigeria for tendering a ridiculous bid for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations television rights.
Amrani who disclosed this at a press conference at the Sandton Sun Hotel, Johannesburg, said the body would not bend its rule for any member federation in order to sustain its financial independence.
It was gathered that the ongoing Nations Cup matches are not on Nigerian television station because the Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria refused to go beyond the $1.5m it offered for the coverage of the matches as opposed to the $6m CAF rights holder, LC2 demanded.
Amrani said, “Nigeria will purchase an English package or a European football package at the right price but they want to purchase our package free, or at a ridiculous price.
“We cannot go ahead with that, there is a minimum balance we have to maintain. Other countries have done the right thing and showing the matches at home. We cannot give out the competition for nothing if we do not want to collapse.
“CAF needs to secure two things. The first is to sustain the maximum coverage of the competition and the other is to respect the laws of the market and the prices.
“We cannot sell to someone who wants to buy at 20 times less than the usual price, we cannot do this, otherwise we will have to close our doors. We cannot survive if we do not sustain the minimum value of our television rights.
“We have seen steady progress in the Nations Cup in the last few years, this is because we are self-sustainable and financially independent.”