Econet’s Kwese TV have secured the official rights to telecast FIFA 2017-2018 tournaments. That simply means the broadcaster will air 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup to be played in Russia. These broadcasting rights are for sub-Saharan Africa except South Africa.

Kwese TV has got free-to-air broadcasting rights of both top class football events. Econet Media President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Hundah happy to become one of the 5 media companies to air biggest sporting event in the world.

He said, “There is no doubt that the FIFA World Cup is a highlight for sports fans all over the globe and Africa is home to some of the game’s biggest fans.  We had to have these major sporting events on our platforms. With exclusive rights to broadcast the tournament free-to-air, we are staying true to our intention to deliver the best sporting programming to as many people as possible across the continent.”

SuperSport, SABC, StarTimes and CANAL+ are the other four media companies that will bring live telecast of 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2018 World Cup. The broadcasting rights in African region for the 2 top football events are as follows:

Econet Media: free-to-air and pay-TV in all territories of sub‑Saharan Africa except South Africa;

Supersport: pay-TV in all territories of sub‑Saharan Africa;

SABC: free-to-air in South Africa;

StarTimes: pay-TV in all territories of sub-Saharan Africa except South Africa

CANAL+: pay-TV in all territories of sub-Saharan Africa except South Africa and Nigeria.

“The exclusivity of our FTA rights for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 means Kwesé is the only platform on the continent licensed to bring live action from these two iconic events free of charge. We will be reaching even larger numbers by bringing this content to people who would otherwise not be able to afford it on pay platforms,” Hundah added.

However it is still not disclosed for how much amount FIFA and Econet Media signed the deal. The 2017 FIFA Confed. cup is scheduled to play between 17 June and 2 July meanwhile 2018 world cup will be played from 14 June to 15 July.