The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) says it is disappointed that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) rejected its financially superior offer for the television broadcast rights of the Ghana Premier League.
According to the GBC, its offer of USD 1,100,000 annually was superior to the USD 1,050,000 annual bid which secured the rights for Chinese pay television company, StarTimes.
The state-owned broadcaster in a press release signed by the Director of Corporate Affairs – GBC, Dr Mamle Asare, said it received the news that StarTimes had won the rights with the best bid with disappointment and shock.
“The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation put in a bid which we are certain was superior to what the StarTimes is said to have submitted. As published on the GFA website, StarTimes offered to pay UDS 5,250,000 which comes up to USD 1,050,000 annually whilst GBC made a financial offer of USD 1,100,000 annually,” the release said.
“It is for this and other reasons that we received the news with disappointment and shock”.
The release added that the unfair decision to deny the GBC and a local television consortium the television broadcast rights will deny some Ghanaians access to Ghana Premier League and FA Cup live games on Free-to-Air (FTA) broadcast.
“Apart from GBC’s superior financial offer, we thought that the Premier League and FA Cup content would have been treated like a national treasure and given to the national broadcaster and a consortium of local broadcasters,” the statement said.
“GBC wishes to put it on public record that the national broadcaster and the local TV Consortium have been treated unfairly and unjustly. The GFA decision will gravely impact on Ghanaians’ access to the Ghana Premier League and FA Cup live games on Free-to-Air (FTA) broadcast”.
Source: Graphic