Angels to face the music over broadcast ‘breach’
Chakalisa Dube | Saturday May 27, 2023 06:00
Last month, Angels decided to broadcast their league game against BDF XI on Khuduga TV. Khuduga is a television channel which mostly broadcasts through ISDBT Set Top Box.
The move by Khuduga and Angels was regarded as a transgression against the BFL broadcasting rules, as the Botswana Television (Btv) owns the league’s broadcasting rights.
The league described the Angels’ move as ‘totally out of order’ and emphasised that stern action would be taken against the league’s new boys. This week, BFL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Senzo Mbatha said Angels have received a letter summoning them for a hearing over the broadcast breach.
“They have been served with a letter from the league regarding their actions. In the next few weeks, they will appear before the league Disciplinary Committee (DC) for a hearing regarding the same matter. You can’t just sanction a member club without giving them a fair hearing. We will advise when that process is done,” Mbatha said.
The CEO did not dwell much on the possible sanction if Angels is found guilty of not adhering to the league broadcast rules and regulations. From his response it appears that the league does not have specific penalties for transgressions against broadcast rights or standards by clubs. “The league relies on the DC where these sanctions are not clear.
I will be introducing most of these (penalties) from next season. It is important to note that there are penalties in most transgressions that happen in the league from late coming by clubs to not attending press conferences by coaches but some are not as clear. This is what we want to correct beginning next season,” Mbatha, who recently completed 100 days in office, said.
Khudua is owned by Angels shareholder Peter Kgathola. Previously the company inked a broadcasting deal with another BFL side, Security Systems. Under the agreement, Khuduga was to broadcast Systems matches on social media. It remains unclear as to why the deal never took off.