Sports Minister Bolaji Abdullahi said on Friday in Lagos that efforts were still on to ensure that Nigerians watched the live telecast of matches of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The tournament has been scheduled to begin on Jan. 19 in Johannesburg.
Abdullahi, also Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), made the promise at a Media Round Table with the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) in Lagos.
He said it was unfortunate that the country had found itself in such a difficult situation.
He wondered why those that are saddled with negotiation acquiring the Broadcast Rights acted late in opening the negotiation late. “They ought to have acted much earlier’’.
“Why this is just coming up now two days or so to the Africa Cup of Nations? It’s unfortunate that we have found ourselves in this
situation but I must say also that it is more a matter for the Ministry of Information than to the Ministry of Sports.
“But we’ve tried to assist, got NFF to even write a letter to them and I got a preview yesterday (Thursday) but I’m still optimistic that something would happen because negotiation still continues.
He added that he made several efforts to resolve the issue with the Africa Football Confederation (CAF) but was informed the right had been sold to LC2.