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.

Just how will twittering bad boy Joey Barton get on with Mark Hughes?

JOEY BARTON became a father for the first time last week at the age of 29. He also scored an 11th-minute goal for QPR against Norwich last Monday afternoon. And after 36 minutes, he got sent-off for the faintest of head-butts on Bradley Johnson, who may even now be considering a career on stage. After seeing his side beaten 2-1 following his dismissal, Barton called for referees to be sued for making mistakes, twittering his 1,040,204 followers: “I wonder how long it is before a football club sues a referee for making a bad decision?” QPR's hastily arranged appeal against the red card failed and Barton is currently suspended for three games. Entirely ignoring the fact he got Arsenal’s Gervinho sent off in very similar circumstances last season, Barton ranted and tweeted all week before his club drew their FA Cup tie at MK Dons last Saturday without him. That was boss Neil Warnock's last game in charge. Curiously, on Friday, Barton was involved in a training ground bust-up with Warnock and his coaching staff. Though suspended, he railed against having to train alone, yelling: "You lot are not going to be here much longer." By Monday this week, Warnock had gone with his promoted side slipping down the table and with suspicious haste, former Wales, Manchester City and Fulham boss Mark Hughes took over yesterday. Some might say Barton played his part in Warnock's dismissal and you could certainly say Joseph Athony Barton is not your average footballer, even in these Premier League days of excess. For a start, his brother Michael Barton is serving a life sentence for the “racially motivated murder” of Anthony Walker in 2005. In May of the same year, Joey broke a 35-year-old pedestrian's leg while driving his car through Liverpool city centre at 2am. He lists world-beating boxer Ricky Hatton and Oasis singer Noel Gallagher among his close friends. He owns a race-horse called “Crying Lightning” and just last week named his newborn son Cassius. On Twitter, he quotes anybody from Friedrich Nietzsche to George Orwell but insists he is not a member of the right-wing English Defence League after an apparently damning picture with one of their leaders. Brought up in the tough Liverpool neighbourhood of Huyton by his father living in his grandparents’ home, he kicked-off his career at Manchester City and earned his first England cap while he was playing in light blue in 2007. Things began to go wrong when, on 20 May 2008 he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for common assault and affray during an incident outside a McDonald's restaurant in Liverpool. He served 77 days. While he was inside, in July 2008, he was handed a four-month suspended sentence after admitting to assaulting team-mate Ousmane Dabo at the City training ground. Other incidents of a similar kind went unpunished. At that point, Newcastle stepped in to end his City nightmare, paying £5.8 million for him in July 2007. After four controversial years with the Magpies, he joined his current club Queens Park Rangers in August 2011. And the arguments rage on. While his side prepared for their FA Cup tie he stuck to his twitter guns, tweeting: “Those 3 points against Norwich could be difference between Premier League survival and not. That equates to a lot of money. “Someone has to set the precedent to stop the game from being ruined, maybe I'll be the first one. Can players sue referees? #Canofwormsopen. “Or a player sues another player for play-acting. Which is basically a lie and that is actionable. Whats the difference?” That was followed by a demand for a resumption of fox hunting after he spotted four of the innocent creatures during a walk in a nearby west London park. And he had time for a quick twitter war with a certain Piers Morgan. This week, Barton says, he is going to take a break from Twitter saying "it's boring the tits off me now" and worrying about "withdrawal systems". I don't expect it to last. It's too much fun for him, for us journalists, and the social networkers. Carry on Joey. But don’t expect any sympathy from rival fans, referees… or the notoriously sparky Hughes. There may be (more) trouble ahead.

The Picture That Proves Ryan Babel Is a Twit. But I Can't Say I Blame Him

There's nothing quite like the FA Cup. Historical, timeless. And there's nothing quite like Twitter. Hysterical, timely. For Ryan Babel, a combination of these two great social forces has served to create quite a stir this weekend.

Babel, infuriated by the actions of World Cup final referee Howard Webb, a shy, self-effacing official, chose to post the picture you see here on his Twitter site, @ryanbabbel.

Only the sharp eyed would have seen his response to Liverpool's desperate 1-0 defeat at Manchester United in an action-packed FA Cup third round. It was only up for a few minutes, but the Football Association reckon that's enough, and are set to "investigate" the Dutchman's itchy twitter finger.

Babel couldn't resist having a dig at Webb, posting the picture of him mocked up in a United shirt and complaining: "And they call him one of the best referees. That's a joke."

After removing the offending image and twitter, Babel realised what an erm... twit he'd been. He said soon afterwards: "My apology if they take my posted picture seriously. This is just a emotional reaction after losing an important game. Sorry Howard Webb."

Very convincing Ryan, thanks. It was his namesake Giggs who scored from the penalty Webb controversially gave when Daniel Agger's challenged Dimitar Berbatov. I said at the time (as @nealcol on twitter, where else?) that it was dodgy. No mastermind required to see that.

To rub salt in the wounds for Anfield fans witnessing Kenny Dalglish's first game in charge following the departure of Roy "Woy" Hodgson, Webb then sent the legend that is Steven Gerrard off after 32 minutes for a challenge on Michael Carrick.

The game over signs immediately began to flash. Dalgish said afterwards the penalty decision was "a joke" and, predictably also bemoaned his captain's red card.

Dalglish himself, who sometimes needs subtitles to help with his raw Glaswegian, could be in hot water for his comments.

In full, he said: "The two decisions are important factors in the game, but if you went into detail about them it would take away from the commitment of the players.

"It's difficult to come here, they are top of the league and when you are down to 10 men and lose a goal in the first minute you need to show commitment, and the players did that and they had great support here today as well.

"If we can restrict the team at the top of the league to that, that bodes well for us.

"We also brought three young lads on to try and freshen it up as our guys had put in so much effort.

"I did not think the penalty was a penalty kick. The sending off....Is anyone who leaves the ground to get sent off now? The thing was that Howard Webb stepped away from the incident and then blew his whistle after one of our lads kicked the ball."

Despite an opening defeat and a far from impressive performance, Dalglish insisted: "For me it's a fantastic journey this next six months. And if they put as much effort and commitment into the cause as they did today, then they should be alright."

Though Babel was only used as a sub for the final half-hour, failing to ignite storming comeback, it's not hard to feel his pain. Personally, I think the FA probably need to fine the bloke a couple of week's wages.

But to be honest, on a weekend of great football, I suspect some Liverpool fans will be quite happy to see Babel show some passion after a pedestrian display from their side, even if it is only on Twitter.

Before his apology last night, the FA had already announced that they will "definitely look into this matter". No problem. With the 24-year-old currently being linked with Hoffenheim as the January transfer window creaks open, this may be his final act before departing our shores.

And his most memorable one. Good on yer, Ryan Guno Babel. After impressing everyone during Holland's Under 21 Euro triumph five years ago, he's hardly made a splash in a difficult period on Merseyside. Just 12 goals and 91 appearances. But at least you've left a mark. Twit.

Death Threats And Arrests: A Non-League Footballer's Tale From The Dark Knight

LEON KNIGHT has lifted the lid on his nightmare at Conference side Rushden and Diamonds, accusing them of making death threats in the on-going row over his registration.

The 28-year-old from Hackney sent out a stream of Twitters to his 3,500 followers on Monday, informing them: “I haven’t been paid since 2008. I have kept quiet for two years but now I am going to tell all.

“They gave me money, then said if I don’t give them back the 30k I’ll end up in a box.

“You say I’m throwing away my career on Twitter – but you can’t get punished for telling the truth. I’m not telling no lies here.”

Knight also accuses the club of taking back the two Mercedes they had given him – and reporting the vehicles stolen, which resulted in the arrests of his father and a friend.

The former Chelsea trainee, who has also played for Brighton, Swansea, MK Dons, Wycombe Wanderers, QPR and Sheffield Wednesday, said: “They gave me two SLK Mercs.

“When they knew we wasn’t good enough to go up, they ask for the cars back then reported them stolen. and got my old man and my mate knicked.

“They still have my 3k Cartier watch in the car and my 350 quid Marc Jacob glasses. I might call the police on them!

“For two years, I held my mouth but no more, I’m telling all.”

Knight insists he has the bank statements to back up his claims against the club, who spent three years in the Football League before returning to the Blue Square Conference, where they are currently 16^th in the table.

He said: “I can prove all I have said. I have bank statements, arrest forms, the full Monty.

“If Rushden give me my registration back, I’ll stop, if not I’ll go to the end and beyond. I have kids to feed, I had to cancel my contract at Darlington cos of the stunt they pulled - so now I'm fighting back which I think is only right.”

Controversy has dogged Knight’s career. During a brief spell at Hamilton Academicals in Scotland last season, he was sent off for his role in a tunnel brawl after a win over Hearts, despite being an unused sub.

So far, in 10 years as a professional, Knight has played nearly 300 games for 14 different clubs, including three for Thrasivoulos Filis in Greece last year whilst in dispute with Rushden.

He returned to England and was all set to sign for Darlington at the start of this season but his transfer was blocked by Rushden, who had held onto his registration after making 12 appearances for them in 2008. Rushden demanded £30,000 to release him.

Knight has produced an on-line petition http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/leonknight/ demanding the right to be released by Rushden. Knight claims he was sacked by the club after signing a two-year contract. He claims the club have since extended his contract to keep his registration – but are not paying him.

Knight was transfer-listed by the club on 29 October, 2008 along with Lee Tomlin, Curtis Woodhouse, Andy Burgess, Phil Gulliver, Sagi Burton, Lee Phillips and Dean McDonald.

He recalls: “You will not be getting paid this month - we got told this in the middle of the training ground car park.

“And they said, if anyone has anything to say come see me in my office. Lee Phillips then pipes up and the chairman walks towards Phillips and shoves him so Phillips pushed him back.

“Hahahahahaha so funny, just one of the many things I’ll be exposing.”