Mr. Kwame Wadja (Right) with Mr. George Lomotey (middle) and other GBC directors.
MANAGEMENT OF the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) has advised individuals and media organisations to desist from illegally broadcasting the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) scheduled to begin on January 9, 2022 in Cameroon.
According to the state broadcaster, which has acquired the rights to broadcast the live matches of the competition in Ghana, any entity found to be pirating the matches would be made to face the full rigours of the law.
Addressing a press conference in Accra, director of legal services at GBC, Kwame Wadja, stated that GBC was working closely with the Police to ensure perpetrators were brought to book.
Mr. Wadja said the government, through GBC, has made huge investments amounting to about €2 million in the broadcast of the programme, adding that the investment must be protected.
“But given the revolution in technology, we all know that this is the time people take the opportunity even though they are not part of the investment, they want to steal the content and show it for free whiles we put in effort,” he said.
He said some private media stations have done the right thing by coming onboard as partners and urged others who were interested in broadcasting the matches to contact the management of GBC.
“GBC Sports Plus is the main sponsor, with Obonu TV, Metro TV, Garden City Tv, Net 2 Tv, Angle Tv, ETV, MX24, Weyzor, all private institutions, as partners,” he said.
Mr. Wadja said the team in charge has put in place mechanisms to detect anybody who pirates the content whether on television, radio, or online.
“In the event that any television station tries to pirate through any medium, we are not going to take kindly to that. Any institution which wants to pirate it might have to think twice about it, this is not one of those things that would be business as usual,” he said.
GBC Sports Plus Channel manager, George Lomotey, said the move is ensure that Ghanaian fans get the chance to follow the Black Stars.
“About 10 TV stations and more radio stations are coming on board and this creates a huge advertising opportunity for corporate Ghana so corporate Ghana should come on board,” he said.
Deputy Director of Police Public Affairs, ASP Victor Dosoo, stressed the resolve of the Police to partner the GBC to ensure that criminal matters were dealt with appropriately.
“The Police service is ready to ensure that proper and full scale criminal investigation is initiated into such crimes to bring perpetrators to book,” he said.
BY Jamila Akweley Okertchiri