Why African Football’s Future Hangs On The Choices of Its Fans

On the evening of 21 December 2025, the continent will pause. Millions of football fans across Africa will gather around screens as Morocco faces Comoros in the opening match of the 35th TotalEnergies CAF African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Rabat. Inside the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, 68,000 spectators will roar with anticipation. Yet the true heartbeat of the tournament will echo far beyond the stadium walls, through living rooms, cafés, and mobile phones across Africa.

This is more than a game. It is a ritual of unity, a shared language that transcends borders, politics, and divisions. The excitement, the tension, and the drama are not just sporting moments. They are proof of football’s power to bind a continent together.

Consider the numbers. At AFCON 2024, the semi-final between South Africa and Nigeria drew a record 10.3 million viewers. The tournament itself reached an estimated 1.4 billion people worldwide. These figures are staggering, but they tell a deeper story: African football is not merely entertainment. It is an industry, a cultural force, and an economic engine. It sustains thousands of jobs, drives local economies, and creates opportunities where few exist.

At the heart of this ecosystem lies broadcasting. Without it, the spectacle collapses. Media companies invest millions to secure the rights to air matches legally. In sub-Saharan Africa, MultiChoice through SuperSport holds these rights, ensuring fans can watch live action while simultaneously fueling the sport’s sustainability. Every subscription, every pay-per-view ticket, every broadcast is more than a transaction, it is a lifeline for African football.

Behind the scenes, the ripple effect is immense. Camera crews, production teams, transport and logistics staff, caterers, hotel workers, and security personnel all depend on the tournament’s success. Behind every goal replay and every commentary line is a network of livelihoods. Broadcasting revenue also sustains the Confederation of African Football (CAF), funding youth development, stadium maintenance, referees, coaches, and elite training camps. It enables national squads to travel, compete, and inspire millions. Without this revenue, the very foundation of African football would falter.

Yet this system is fragile. Piracy threatens to unravel it. To many fans, watching an illegal stream may seem harmless, and a way to avoid subscription fees. But the consequences are profound. Money that should support African football instead flows into criminal networks. Funding for youth academies shrinks. Infrastructure projects stall. National teams struggle. Piracy does not just steal content; it steals the future of African football.

The threat is not abstract. Globally, Spain’s LaLiga estimates losses of €600–700 million annually due to piracy. The UK Premier League blocked more than 600,000 illegal streams in a single season. In Africa, pirate websites expose viewers to malware, fraud, and identity theft. They erode trust, scare away sponsors, and choke investment. Every illegal stream chips away at the opportunities available to players, coaches, and communities.

But there is hope. Organizations like Partners Against Piracy are fighting back, strengthening legal frameworks, taking pirate sites to court, and educating fans about the hidden costs of illegal streaming. Technology companies such as Irdeto deploy advanced tools to protect legitimate streams, track illegal broadcasts, and make pirate platforms harder to access. These efforts matter, but they are not enough on their own.

The most important partner in safeguarding African football is the fan. Every legal subscription, every pay-per-view, every legitimate stream is a vote for the sport’s survival. Fans hold the power to decide whether African football thrives or withers.

This is the moral crossroads. When you tune in to AFCON, you are not just choosing how to watch a match. You are choosing whether to invest in the dreams of young players training on dusty pitches, whether to sustain national teams that carry the pride of millions, whether to protect the jobs of thousands who make the tournament possible. Watching legally is not a passive act, it is an active commitment to the future of African football.

So, ask yourself: are you helping to build African football, or letting piracy destroy it? The choice is enormous. By watching legally, you nurture the next generation of African stars, strengthen national teams, and ensure that the continent’s most beloved sport continues to thrive.

African football belongs to all of us. Protecting it is everyone’s responsibility. The roar of the crowd, the brilliance of the players, the unity of the continent, all of it depends on the decisions we make as fans. On 21 December, as Morocco and Comoros step onto the pitch, remember: the future of African football is not only in their hands. It is in yours.

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Elisha Kamau is the Public Relations Manager at MultiChoice Kenya