Egyptian court launches probe into sale of soccer broadcasting rights
The Egyptian public prosecutor decided to refer the former chairman of the Confederation of African Football to court on charges of violating Egyptian laws that prohibit monopolistic practices.
CAIRO — On March 13, Egyptian Public Prosecutor Nabil Sadek referred to the Economic Court the then-Chairman of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Issa Hayatou on accusations of improperly selling the rights to broadcast the African Union (AU) championships, thus allegedly violating the Egyptian Law on the Protection of Competition and the Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices.
This resulted in further tensions between the African and Egyptian federations and to the March 16 CAF election defeat of Hayatou, a Cameroonian who headed the organization for 29 years, by Ahmad Ahmad, who heads Madagascar’s Football Association.
Sadek’s decision came after the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) in January had referred Hayatou to the public prosecutor for the same reason.
Signs of a crisis started appearing after the CAF formally renewed a contract with the French Lagardere company in September, giving Lagardere the right to broadcast the CAF championships until 2028 and ignoring an offer made by an Egyptian company, Presentation Sports.
