BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – FIFA World Cup football is possibly the most anticipated sporting event of 2010, but fans in the Federation may be left in the dark come June 11 as rumours circulate that local televised broadcasting of the matches is in doubt.
Reliable sources speaking to SKNVibes on condition of anonymity recently informed that the Federation would not be receiving televised coverage of the world’s premier football event.
In June 2009, telecommunications giant Digicel announced that it would be covering the broadcast rights of World Cup matches in the Caribbean so “football fans can watch up to 274 football matches over the next 13 months…right up to the much-anticipated FIFA World Cup 2010 which is taking place next summer in South Africa”.
“The FIFA World Cup 2010 is the biggest football tournament in the world. As the biggest investor in football in the Caribbean and Central America, Digicel has listened to what our customers want. Our customers are so passionate about this tournament – we are delighted to be bringing live televised coverage of it to the people of the Caribbean,” Digicel Group Marketing Manager Kieran Foley said at that time.
Speaking to SKNVibes over the weekend, Digicel Country Manager for St. Kitts-Nevis Sean Latty said that he is not aware of anything that would impede local coverage.
“As far as we’re concerned, the coverage is moving ahead as planned. I have not heard anything about coverage not being provided to St. Kitts and Nevis,” he said.
However, ZIZ Acting General Manager Vere Galloway said that details of televised live matches from South Africa had not been solidified at this time.
“I can’t confirm at this time [if there will be coverage]. Unless we get the funding, we would not be able to bring the matches. Right now we are looking for corporate sponsors to assist us,” he stated.
When asked about the Digicel deal that has reportedly been in place since June of last year, the Acting General Manager said that he is unaware of funding being provided to ZIZ to bring the matches locally.
“I’m not certain about funding being provided by them. I know we are in negotiations with them now, so when those are completed we would be certain.”
He further informed that negotiations are expected to be completed by next week and at that time the football fans of St. Kitts-Nevis would have a better idea of what to expect when the World Cup kicks off on June 11.
