French company Sportfive has agreed a 12-year extension to their media and marketing rights deal with the Confederation of African Football, it was announced on Friday. The agreement extends their long-standing partnership from 2017 to 2028. Sportfive, which is part of the French Lagardere Group, has held a monopoly over television and marketing rights on the continent since 1993. Its current deal with CAF has been running since 2008 and gives the company exclusive marketing rights to all CAF's major competitions, including the African Nations Cup and the African Champions League. "We have appreciated and are very satisfied with Sportfive's performance over the years. We are excited to expand this agreement for 12 additional years and to jointly continue to cooperate in the future to promote our sport," said CAF president Issa Hayatou in a statement. Under the current deal, CAF will earn a minimum of almost $140 million from Sportfive from television and marketing revenue, according to their financial statements. No figures were given, however, for the new package. "We strongly believe that the African continent is a source of significant growth for our business activities in the coming years and this partnership renewal with CAF is a perfect example of this vision," added Arnaud Lagardere. (For more sports news andupdates, followAhramOnlineSportson Twitter at@AO_Sportsand onFacebookatAhramOnlineSports.) http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/132619.aspx
