by Thinus Ferreira
China's StarTimes pay-TV service in Africa has acquired the broadcasting rights for sub-Saharan Africa for the Confederation Africaine de Football's (CAF) 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
The 33rd Afcon will take place in Cameroon between 9 January and 6 February 2022.
The 2021 Afcon was originally scheduled for June 2021 but was postponed, and was postponed a second time in June 2020 to January 2022 due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, but would keep the name 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations will be played by 24 teams in 5 cities (Douala, Yaoundé, Bafoussam, Garoua and Limbe) across Cameroon, with Algeria as the defending champions.
StarTimes acquired the pay-TV rights and over-the-top (OTT) rights for the 2021 Afcon across all sub-Saharan Africa territories in English, Portuguese, as well as African local languages.
StarTimes will broadcast all 52 matches live and in full high-definition (HD) across 8 sports TV channels as well as on its video streaming service StarTimes ON.
"StarTimes has made a strategic priority to support African football and bring it to fans across the continent," says StarTimes in a statement.
"We are honoured to partner with CAF again, following the successful broadcasting of the 2019 AFCON and the 2020 CHAN. To us, there is no better way to start 2022 than to watch African top players compete for the continental crown."
