The Confédération Africaine de Football (“CAF”) has launched the CAF Broadcast Academy and the TV Director’s Programme in Johannesburg to uplift the quality of TV production and broadcast standards in African football.

The CAF Broadcast Academy falls in line with the vision set by the CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe of making African Football globally competitive and amongst the best in the world.

TV is key in delivering a world-class product that is commercially strong. Already, CAF’s flagship tournament, the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations attracts over 1.4 billion TV audiences and 2.2 billion digital streams making it one of the top four global football events.

The CAF Broadcast Academy will focus on upskilling TV Directors, Camerapersons, Producers, Broadcast Venue Managers, Broadcast Liaison Officers, Commentators and many other role players key in delivering the product over a two-year period.

The end-goal is to ensure that African football reached world class standards in all 54 Member Associations of CAF.

The inaugural workshop was held in Johannesburg for English-speaking countries, with 18 TV Directors from 16 countries gathered in Johannesburg at SuperSport studios. SAFA President Dr Danny Jordaan attended the inaugural certification ceremony in Johannesburg.

In April, CAF will host another workshop for French-speaking countries.

The TV Director’s workshop is being facilitated by HBS/FIFA World Cup Director, Jamie Oakford.

Véron Mosengo-Omba, CAF General Secretary said: “The CAF Broadcast Academy is our practical step to resolve some of the challenges we face in relation to quality of production. The CAF President Dr Motsepe has given us a mandate to make African Football amongst the best in the world and the quality of the TV product is at the centre of achieving this. I’m glad that we have finally kicked off this Programme as it will benefit all the Member Associations of CAF and also market African football globally.”

CAF’s Luxolo September added: “We, as CAF, must play an active role in creating solutions to some of our challenges. The CAF Broadcast Academy is not only about today but the future. The Broadcast product in Africa will not be the same again. We are partnering with CAF’s TV partners like beIN Sport, Canal+, SuperSport and many others to make this dream a reality. We thank HBS for designing the programme.”