CAF reports a 61% rise in AFCON 2025 viewership, with Morocco 2025 attracting record audiences across Europe, Asia, and the Americas
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has reported a 61 per cent increase in global viewership for the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025, highlighting the tournament’s rapid rise as one of the world’s fastest-growing sporting events.
Preliminary figures released on CAF’s official platform indicate that expanded broadcast coverage across Europe, Asia, and the Americas drove much of the growth.
CAF’s full report, prepared by global research firm Nielsen, is expected in the coming weeks.
The Morocco-hosted tournament, staged between December 21, 2025, and January 18, 2026, saw Senegal crowned champions, with Morocco finishing second and Nigeria third.
According to CAF, strengthened commercial and media partnerships, particularly with sports marketing agency IMG, contributed to a 50 per cent rise in international broadcast partners compared to the 2023 edition in Côte d’Ivoire.
CAF reported that new broadcast agreements reached previously untapped markets, including Japan, China, South Korea, Mexico, Greece, and Colombia, making Morocco 2025 the most widely distributed AFCON tournament to date.
Emerging markets also played a key role, with South America seeing more than 24 million viewers in Brazil and nearly two million in Mexico.
European viewership surged as well, with the final drawing over three million viewers in the United Kingdom via Channel 4 and more than four million in Germany on Sports Digital.
Asian audiences contributed to the growth, with India’s final stream on FanCode attracting over 800,000 viewers.
CAF emphasised that its media strategy including in-house content production and expanded highlights distribution boosted brand partner exposure by more than 65 per cent across European and South American markets.
Key performance indicators include a 32 per cent rise in media value for European partners and a 35 per cent growth in overall media rights revenue across South America, Europe, and Asia.
“These preliminary results reinforce AFCON’s commercial strength and global relevance,” CAF stated, noting that the competition continues to attract new audiences and investment well beyond Africa.
Fresh concerns have emerged over compliance with a court order issued by the High Court of Kano State on April 8, 2026, restraining key parties—including the Honourable Minister of Education, the Kano State Ministry of Land and Physical Planning, the Kano State Urban Development Authority, and Pluck Global Company Limited—from further actions pending the determination of the matter before the court.
Findings indicate that while all parties—except the concessionaire, Pluck Global Company Limited—were duly served within two days of the order, significant challenges were encountered in effecting service on the company, raising troubling questions about its corporate traceability and regulatory vetting.
A review of the company’s records filed with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) revealed addresses that could not be verified as functional business locations. Notably, documentation submitted to Federal Government College (FGC), Kano, dated June 20, 2024, listed two addresses: 8B, Lalupon Street, off Keffi Street, off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, as its head office, and 3 Bargery Road, Bompai, Kano, as its branch office.
However, a physical visit to the Ikoyi address revealed that the entire property is occupied by a company identified as Golden Alchemy, whose staff категорically denied any knowledge of, or shared occupancy with, Pluck Global Company Limited.
Efforts to trace the Kano address yielded even more unsettling findings. The location—a locked duplex—showed no visible signs of commercial activity. Neighbours, while reluctant to speak on record, alluded to irregular movements at odd hours, casting further doubt on the legitimacy of the premises as a corporate office.
In a twist, after multiple attempts to establish contact, an individual purportedly representing the company surfaced in Kano and agreed to receive and acknowledge the court order on April 11, 2026, at approximately 6:00 pm. Curiously, the Ikoyi address—already discredited—was again listed as the company’s official address in the acknowledgment.
These developments raise critical questions regarding due diligence and Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols on the part of the Federal Ministry of Education. They also cast a spotlight on the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), should a concession agreement indeed have been executed with the company. Stakeholders say it would be instructive to review the addresses contained in all official correspondences and contractual documents linked to the transaction.
Meanwhile, a visit to the premises of Federal Government College, Kano, revealed ongoing construction activity, with workers observed excavating foundations. When approached, the workers declined to disclose the authority under which they were operating—despite the subsistence of a court order restraining further action.
Notably, a previously installed project billboard bearing the insignia of the school authorities and the Federal Ministry of Education had been removed. Sources within the institution suggest that the directive for its removal may have emanated from the Ministry following receipt of the court order.
The unfolding situation presents a complex mix of legal, regulatory, and accountability issues—raising the spectre of possible non-compliance with judicial directives, as well as deeper concerns about transparency in public-private concession arrangements.
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