* SuperSport Football Plus will become FIFA World Cup Central
* SuperSport Premier League will FIFA World Cup Africa
* SuperSport La Liga will be FIFA World Cup Select 1
* SuperSport Variety 1 will be FIFA World Cup Select 2
* SuperSport Football will be FIFA World Cup Fan Zone
By Duncan Mlanjira
As the countdown to the kick off of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup is just a month away, on November 20, SuperSport channels will be rebranded to give the best coverage of the greatest sports tournament in history.
Advertisement
A statement from MultiChoice Malawi says the branding on SuperSport is to provide the most thrilling distillation of ‘The Beautiful Game.
In terms of DStv, SuperSport Football Plus (available on the DStv Compact package and up) will become FIFA World Cup Central as a 24-hour channel focused on the tournament, providing live coverage of 56 games with full studio presentation, previews and reviews, as well as live magazine shows.
SuperSport Premier League (available on the DStv Compact package and up) becomes World Cup Africa — a 24-hour channel providing live coverage of 56 games with default vernacular commentary.
SuperSport La Liga (available on the DStv Access package and up) becomes FIFA World Cup Select 1, a 24-hour channel featuring 30 live games, all African teams, eight simultaneous fixtures, repeats and magazine shows.
SuperSport Variety 1 (available on the DStv Access package and up) becomes FIFA World Cup Select 2, also a 24-hour channel featuring 30 live games, all African teams, eight simultaneous fixtures, repeats and magazine shows.
SuperSport Football (available on the DStv Access package and up) becomes FIFA World Cup Fan Zone, a 24-hour channel devoted to fan coverage and reaction, news, press conferences and all the emotion experienced by those following every second of the World Cup from November 20 to December 18.
Advertisement
In addition, SuperSport Blitz (available on the DStv Access package and up) will provide match reports, previews, breaking news and interviews from Qatar 2022 as part of its usual role of being your one-stop shop to get the latest and greatest sporting information from around the world.
On GOtv, SuperSport GOtv Football (available on the GOtv Plus package and up) becomes FIFA World Cup Select 2 (rest of the continent) — a 24-hour channel featuring 30 live games, all African teams, eight simultaneous fixtures, repeats and magazine shows.
SuperSport GOtv La Liga (available on the GOtv Supa package) becomes FIFA World Cup Central, a 24-hour channel focused on the tournament, providing live coverage of 56 games with full studio presentation, previews and reviews, as well as live magazine shows.
Advertisement
SuperSport GOtv Select 1 (available on the GOtv Supa package) becomes FIFA World Cup Africa, a 24-hour channel providing live coverage of 56 games with default vernacular commentary.
The statement further says there will also be a Pop-Up channel, FIFA World Cup Fan Zone (available on the GOtv Lite package and up) a 24-hour channel devoted to fan coverage and reaction, news, press conferences and all the emotion experienced by those following every second of the Qatar 2022.
GOtv also has SuperSport Blitz available on the GOtv Lite package and up as well as SuperSport Maximo 1 and 2, which will feature 56 lives matches, with simultaneous kick-off fixtures broadcast on SuperSport Maximo 3. SuperSport Maximo 360 will serve as a dedicated 24-hour fan channel.
Advertisement
Aside from all the on-pitch action, SuperSport will also keep fans entertained and informed with the following magazine shows:
* ‘Marhaba Qatar’ – Every Sunday morning and all six non-match days, starts 30 October
* ‘Masterplan’ – Deep analysis show, every Sunday at 10:00 (first show) and 14:00 (after group stage)
* ‘Super Saturday’ – Includes live crossing and features from Qatar
* ‘World Cup Insights’ – Conversations with top guests in Doha.
Zena Makunje, Corporate Affairs Manager at MultiChoice Malawi is quoted as saying: “We are excited to deliver, literally the world’s best football to our customers.
“Our teams have been active to ensure a great experience for viewers, not only in terms of the viewing quality and access to matches, but the value-added offerings.
“There’s a lot to look forward to and we are proud to provide a platform for customers to experience it with us,” Makunje said.
Zena Makunje
The 22nd edition of FIFA World Cup will be the first ever to be held in the Arab world and the second World Cup held entirely in Asia after the 2002 tournament South Korea and Japan.
In addition, the tournament will be the last to involve 32 teams, with an increase to 48 teams scheduled for the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Due to Qatar’s intense summer heat, this World Cup will be held from late-November to mid-December, making it the first tournament not to be held in May, June, or July and to take place in the northern autumn — and it will be played in a reduced timeframe of around 29 days.
The first match will be between the hosts Qatar and Ecuador. France are the reigning World Cup champions.
African champions Senegal have been drawn in Group A with Qatar, Ecuador and Netherlands; Tunisia in Group D with France, Australia and Denmark; Morocco in Group F with Belgium, Canada and Croatia; Cameroon in Group G with Brazil, Serbia and Switzerland while Ghana are in Group H alongside Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea.
Group B has England, Iran, USA and Wales; Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland and Group E: Spain, Costa Rica, Germany and Japan.
African champions Senegal