The great Euro2016 qualifying failure: SuperSport explain their embarrassing lack of live coverage

What we didn't see: O'Shea's late leveller for Ireland in Germany

Without only a brief comment, here's SuperSport communications manager Clinton van der Berg's response to my twitters last night, lamenting their lack of Euro2016 qualifying coverage on ANY of their multiple channels.

While Cristiano Ronaldo was scoring a last-minute winner to engineer Portugal's first win of the tournament and the Republic of Ireland's John O'Shea scored a late, late 94th minute equaliser against ailing World Champions Germany, SuperSport viewers were left in the dark once more without any explanation for the absence of coverage.


With no other high-profile live football on, their continued black-out of European football seemed inexplicable, after years of top rate coverage. Repeated pleas for a coherent explanation were met with a stony silence from @SuperSportTV and the usually responsive twitter account of my erstwhile pal Docky Dockrat.

Today I received a numbers of calls from Clinton, sports editor when I wrote British football for the Johannesburg Sunday Times a decade ago. The conversation was amicable. Clint said he had been met by "a queue of people" when he arrived at work talking about my twitters. I understood my frustrations but explained the Euro qualifiers had been offered "as a bundle" at considerable cost. Conditions had changed without warning, he said. After much deliberating, the company decided not to carry live coverage of the qualification rounds, though they will be covering the finals tournament itself.

I told him without knowing the cost of coverage, I was unable to judge whether SuperSport had taken a fair decision on the Euro qualifiers. I welcome the fuller coverage of AFCON qualifiers, but questioned the lack of live international football for which SuperSport has become famous continent-wide. SuperSport carries a lot of live cricket and rugby at varying levels, but for top level football to miss out seems unacceptable given substantial subscription charges.

I pointed out European visitors are always impressed by Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga coverage in South Africa - particularly the number of live games on a Saturday afternoon - but that failing to show live coverage of teams like England, Scotland, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Germany and Holland left a sour taste even here, at the tip of Africa.

Clint said he had an explanation and sent me this response via email... judge for yourself.

Hi Neal,

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to put across SuperSport’s side of things.

As I explained, SuperSport endeavours at all times to acquire top-quality content. We negotiated in good faith but had to walk away when the numbers got out of hand.

Our general statement follows.

Cheers,

Clinton

Clinton van der Berg  Communications Manager   E: Clinton.vanderBerg@supersport.com | W: www.supersport.com A: World of Champions Building | 137 Bram Fischer Drive | Randburg | 2194 | South Africa

SuperSport and football rights

SuperSport proudly broadcasts more football showcasing the world’s most popular leagues than any other broadcaster.

In the 2013/14 season this included:

380 Barclays Premiership games (250 live);

133 PSL, plus MTN8 (nine), Telkom Cup (12) and Nedbank Cup (17) matches;

115 Champions League matches;

85 Europa League matches;

175 La Liga matches; 

150 Serie A matches;

130 Bundesliga matches.

This volume and quality account for SuperSport’s status as the game’s preeminent broadcaster.

SuperSport also broadcasts the FIFA World Cup and the Euro competitions, the next edition which will be held in 2016.

SuperSport has also acquired the rights to friendly matches played by World Cup champions Germany, Holland and Brazil for the next three years and holds rights to the friendlies of various other major football nations.

SuperSport has recently decided to renew focus on African football. For the first time, SuperSport will be broadcasting a bloc of 50 Afcon qualifiers, plus the African Women’s Championship from Namibia featuring South Africa, Zambia, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Algeria, Ghana and Namibia. It begins this weekend.

This is in addition to SuperSport’s broadcast of all CAF football properties, including Afcon (the next edition which will be held in Morocco early in 2015) and the African Nations Championship (CHAN).

What’s more, the ongoing MultiChoice Diski Challenge will enjoy 41 live match broadcasts. The National First Division had eight live broadcasts in the recent season while there were 18 live broadcasts of SA Varsity Football

In all, 843 hours of football action was broadcast on SuperSport in 2013/14. Back to back, it would have taken 35 days to watch it all non-stop.

A typical recent week (August 13-20, 2014) saw 50 live games broadcast on SuperSport in 157 hours.

The current season will see SuperSport broadcast 1661 matches for a total duration of 2491 hours. This incorporates 27 different leagues and championships – more than any other broadcaster.

Live talk programming amounts to three hours per day on week days with an additional fan show on Saturday and Sunday nights for one hour following live matches.

SuperSport has not concluded acceptable commercial terms in a competitive market in respect of broadcast rights to UEFA qualifiers. We are, however, the only pay broadcaster which will broadcast the actual Euro 2016 tournament.

World Cup Final 2014: SUPER MARIO SEALS THE DEAL for Germany... and rightly so

Highlight of the night: the sun sets over Christ the Redeemer above Rio

Dreadful. Goalless. Disappointing. Poetic commentator Peter Drury can show us all the glorious sunsets in the world, but the World Cup Final simply let us down.

The long-awaited winner: Mario Gotze scores

In the end it was decided by a single moment of predatory finishing from Mario Gotze, the 22-year-old supersub from Bayern Munich.

And that was only right. After a fascinating tournament in Brazil filled with shocks and surprises, Argentina successfully sucked the life out of the Germans and left us bemoaning on the second 0-0 final in history, with the USA in 1994 the only previous example.

It’s harsh blaming all this on the Argies, but in truth, look at their record. Like Spain in South Africa four years ago, they managed to stay goalless throughout the knock-out stages, over seven hours of defensive buttressing.

But up front, despite an embarrassment of striking riches, two goals in four games. Ugh. Lionel Messi showed glimpses, but never enough to persuade anybody of my age he’s another Pele or Diego Maradona.

His highly-rated, over-priced strike partners Gonzalo Higuain – who missed one and had another ruled out (rightly) for off-side – and Kun Aguero were largely unimpressive too.

But then what can we say about the Germans? Top scorers in 2010. 17 in Brazil. The record-breaking 16-goal Miroslav Klose went off before the 90 minutes were up, Thomas Muller – their leading scorer for both tournaments – was painfully lacking.

In the end, it came down to extra-time. Germany had most of the possession in the first half but shut up shop in the second. Argentina did little to set the pulses racing. All commentator Drury, the football poet, could offer was nice pictures of Christ the Redeemer with the sun going down.

He said: “If you don’t find that view breathtaking, there’s something missing in your humanity.” There was. A goal. Three World Cup finals going to extra-time in a row? After a tournament where former winners Spain, Italy and England went home early?

No cause to celebrate: Higuain after his disallowed goal

Where Tim Krul came on as a penalty specialist? Where Cameroonians head-butted each other? Where two African sides reached the knock-out stages for the first time? Where Neymar broke a vertebra and Tim Howard saved more shots in one game than anygoalkeeper before? The old Suarez bite and ban and move to Barcelona?

Great stuff. It started with Holland 5, Spain 1 and, in truth, ended with that unbelievable semi-final: Germany 7, Brazil 1.

But always, lurking in the background, Alejandro Sabella, the man who played for Sheffield United and Leeds back in the 80s. Perhaps that’s where he learned the unbeautiful game. Under him, Messi is too often reduced to a midfield worker ant. Under him, when Lavezzi starts running at the opposition too much, off he goes. Under him, Argentina are little more than Stoke City on steroids.

In a tournament where a record NINE of the knock-out games went to extra-time, we were forced to endure another 30 minutes of stale-mate. Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli managed to keep all 22 players on the pitch, though Kramer was felled by a hefty Garay shoulder and Neuer nearly beheaded Higuain.

Extra-time gave us chances for subsitutes Schurrle and Palacio but no goal. Until SEVEN minutes from penalties, Bayern Munich's Mario Gotze produced a chest-and-volley finish to provide Germany with the edge they needed.

It was the first goal Argentina had conceded since the group stages. The first time EVER they had let in during World Cup extra-time. And the final kick of the match belonged to Lionel Messi, the man who threatened to eclipse the great Diego Maradona. He didn't. He ballooned his free-kick over the bar... and probably on the head of Christ the Redeemer.

Moment of triumph: Germany lift the World Cup

For the first time in history, a European nation has won the World Cup in South America. And who can say they didn't deserve it?

Messi was awarded the Golden Ball as best player of the tournament, but it was hardly deserved given his performances in the knock-out stages. Both Jerome Boateng and Bastian Schweinsteiger were magnificent throughout. James Rodriguez of Colombia takes home the golden boot while Manuel Neueur, the German giant, deservedly carried off the Golden Glove as keeper of the World Cup.

SOCCERBALLZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za with Mark Fish airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. Ballz will also provide daily World Cup updates from next week.

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.