The South African Football Association (Safa) and South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) have announced that they have amicably resolved the issue of broadcasting the Afcon qualifier between Bafana Bafana and Libya which will take place at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.
“We are pleased to announce that we have resolved the outstanding issues and I would like to thank the SABC in making sure that the nation will watch their favourite sport on the national broadcaster,” said Safa president Danny Jordaan.
“I would also like to thank the Ministries of Sport and Recreation SA and Communications for working hard to resolve this matter,” added Jordaan.
But common ground could not be found‚ with the standoff spilling over into Thursday.
Communications minister Nomvula Mokonyane and Sports Minister Tokozile Xasa stepped into the fray when the game faced the very real possibility of not being broadcast on both radio and television.
The two parties have had a standoff for months and a new contract is yet to be signed‚ mainly due to the financial crisis at the cash-strapped broadcaster.
Minister Mokonyane confirmed this week that Treasury has allowed the SABC to take on more debt to ease its current financial woes.
Safa officials had said they wanted certain guarantees before the game could be broadcast as the broke public broadcaster has failed to honour its financial obligations for several months.
The match which kicks off at 15h00 will be televised live on SABC 1.