Azam TV saga takes new twist as Yanga go to court

Dar es Salaam. 

The tug-of-war between Young Africans and the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) over broadcasting rights took a new twist yesterday when the Jangwani team asked the High Court to temporarily block Azam Media Limited from televising their matches.

In a case they filed yesterday, the club argues that the TFF’s decision to grant Azam Media exclusive rights to broadcast the Vodacom Premier League matches without first seeking their consent was unjust and exploitative, and has put their sponsorship and revenue in jeopardy.

Sued along the TFF and Azam Media Limited is the chairman of the Tanzania Premier League Board (TPLB), Hamad Yahya.

The two sides have been embroiled in the broadcast row since August last year after the TFF awarded Azam exclusive rights to broadcast league matches.

At its annual general meeting in January, the Yanga leadership claimed that the TFF’s deal with Azam spelt doom for the club as a Sh100million package they earn per year from the latter translated to less than Sh4million per match, an amount that is meagre in light of the club’s fan base. Yesterday, the Registered Trustees of the club asked the court to temporarily bar Azam from televising their matches pending hearing of the case.

Yanga argue that if the court will not intervene and annul the deal, the club was likely to lose its sponsorship from Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) in the next three years because Azam Media is averse to alcohol advertisement.

“Azam may not positively project commercial advertisements of Yanga sponsors who are beer brewers,” argues the club.

Young Africans has ignored the fact that they were the owners of all original copyrights in telecast of the games they play before sealing the deal with Azam.

“Clause 4.3 of the agreement gives the TFF all the rights other than those conferred to them, hence robbing our club its copyrights in telecast of its matches,” read part of an affidavit sworn by a member of the club’s board of trustees, Francis Kifukwe.

“Yanga have proprietary interest in the matches and players who have been retained to play for the club at great expenses,” it read.

The club is accusing TFF of what it described as ‘abuse of statutory dominance in football’ to enter into contracts unjust and exploitative to them.

The Citizen: