Mr. Fred Acheampong, an Executive Council member of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), has said they terminated their broadcast partnership with StarTimes due to outstanding monetary obligations.
According to the GFA Executive Member, the Chinese Media company owed the GFA close to a million dollars, which resulted in the termination of the broadcast rights.
In 2020, StarTimes secured the exclusive broadcasting rights for the Ghana Premier League and other leagues in a four-year agreement worth $5.25 million.
But over the weekend, live matches returned to free-to-air channels following the GFA’s agreement with local broadcasting firm, AFA Sports.
Mr. Fred Acheampong, in an interview with the media, said: “StarTimes owes GFA close to $1 million dollars. The GFA had to find money from different avenues to settle the clubs with the ‘StarTimes’ money that the clubs were supposed to receive. This is the reason we couldn’t continue with StarTimes”.
With the resumption of the new season, the AFA coverage of the first week of the Ghana Premier League has been met with mixed reactions, especially concerning the quality of coverage.