By Kiyapili Sibanda
ECONET Media has said Kwese TV has not submitted any bid for the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League television rights and declared that it doesn’t intend to submit bids anytime in the near future.
In a statement yesterday, Econet Media said as part of its strategy in Zimbabwe, Kwese TV has entered into arrangements with a number of local sports federations and the PSL tender doesn’t fall under the company’s current rollout of products, programmes and activities.
“Our attention has been drawn to various reports linking Kwese TV, an entity of Econet Media, to bids for (the) Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League (PSL) television rights. Econet Media wishes to make it clear that it has not submitted any bids nor entered into any negotiations for the said rights and does not plan to do so now or in the near future.
“As part of its strategy in Zimbabwe, Kwese has entered into arrangements with a number of local sports federations and will continue to develop further relationships with sports organisations. However, the PSL tender does not fall under the company’s current rollout of products, programmes and activities,” reads the Econet Media statement.
It added that a critical part of Kwese TV’s current rollout programme includes the establishment of comprehensive in-country infrastructure directly and in collaboration with selected partners to support production of local sports and entertainment programmes.
In December 2017, PSL chief executive officer Kennedy Ndebele denied that they had been negotiating with Kwese Sports for the league’s TV rights contrary to speculation in local football circles. The Chronicle
