The Freedom of Expression Institute is concerned at the implications of the decision by the Premier Soccer League (PSL) to award broadcasting rights for all its matches to Supersport for the next five years.

Soccer is one of those South African sports that is regarded as a sport of national importance. In a sense, the sport is a national asset. Further, a large proportion of the participants in the sport at various levels – including players and supporters – come from poor communities.

How, then, can the PSL justify awarding this contract to a channel that broadcasts on a platform that is subscribed to by only nine percent of South Africans? Communication technologies and media need to be used, in South Africa, in much more creative ways in order to expand accessibility as much as possible. This is especially so in the case of those activities that have national importance.

However, with this deal, the PSL is actually reducing accessibility to its sports broadcasts. This effectively privatises soccer so that its access will be mainly to the elite in our country. The FXI supports the SABC’s position on this matter and calls for a reconsideration of the awarding of the broadcast rights and the awarding of those rights to the SABC in order to make soccer matches broadly accessible to the viewing public.