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<\/div>\nThe Confederation of African Football (Caf) has recommitted to its partnership with beIN Media Group just two months after cancelling its broadcast deal with the Qatari organisation.<\/p>\n
In early September, Caf\u00a0cancelled the contract\u00a0as it was owed at least $88m (\u00a371.75m) by beIN, which itself acknowledged \u201ca number of issues\u201d affecting the relationship.<\/p>\n
Talks since have \u201cresulted in the re-establishment of a mutually beneficial partnership between the parties\u201d, Caf said in a statement.<\/p>\n
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\u201cCaf is delighted about its partnership with beIN and is committed to growing and expanding this relationship,\u201d added Caf\u2019s South African president Patrice Motsepe.<\/p>\n
With Caf stating that the parties have \u201creached agreement on the matters that were in dispute\u201d, BBC Sport Africa understands that nearly all the funds that beIN owed African football\u2019s ruling body have now been paid.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis historic agreement came after talks between Motsepe and [beIN Media Group chairman] Nasser Al-Khelaifi,\u201d a Caf source told BBC Sport Africa.<\/p>\n
Having initially threatened legal action over Caf\u2019s decision to terminate the beIN deal, the Qatari group said it had previously withheld the money it owed because of concerns over several aspects of its ongoing relationship with those running the African game.<\/p>\n
These included questions over the value of its rights for the African Champions League, which beIN felt had been diminished by the\u00a0arrival of the African Football League,\u00a0and a reluctance to pay its original deal in full given the Covid-enforced cancellation of some events and postponement of others.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeIN is pleased all matters have been positively resolved,\u201d a beIN spokesperson, without going into specific details, told BBC Sport Africa on Thursday.<\/p>\n
BeIN\u2019s payment will assist Caf in paying the second and final instalment of $25m, due next month, to Lagardere Sports, now known as Sport5, as compensation following the African body\u2019s unilateral\u00a0cancellation of the $1bn deal with the French media group\u00a0in 2019.<\/p>\n
The Cairo-based organisation has been short of funds in recent times given that the previous payment from beIN, its biggest broadcast partner, dated back to February 2022, and only came after Caf threatened to remove its rights to broadcast the final stages of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations taking place that month.<\/p>\n
Despite sending beIN a letter dated 1 September announcing the termination of their deal, Caf never cut television feeds to the media group \u2013 which was thus able to continue broadcasting matches it had agreed the rights for, such as Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and African Champions League games.<\/p>\n
With a source close to the matter saying the door was \u201copen\u201d for talks, discussions between the parties started shortly afterwards and led to a resolution that would appear to suit both Caf and beIN.<\/p>\n
The deal\u2019s ongoing continuation removes concerns in beIN\u2019s region of North Africa and the Middle East (with the group also broadcasting African football in Asia, France and the United States) over television coverage of the 2023 Nations Cup, which kicks off in Ivory Coast in January.<\/p>\n
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