Gabon and Equatorial Guinea play host to the biennial festival of African football – the Africa Cup of Nations – with some of Europe’s top talent featuring throughout British Eurosport and ITV4’s extensive coverage.
The 2012 tournament kicks-off on January 21, and the Pan-European broadcaster will screen live coverage of all 32 matches, while ITV4 will show daily highlights and selected live games including the final on February 12.
Eurosport hold the primary broadcast rights to the tournament, and will cover every game in its entirity on either British Eurosport or British Eurosport 2. High-definition coverage will also be available on Eurosport HD.
Jon Roder, Dan O’Hagan, Leroy Rosenior, Wayne Boyce and Tim Caple will all be part of Eurosport’s commentary team for their live match coverage.
In addition to British Eurosport’s live programming, they will also broadcast a daily 15-minute ‘Africa Cup of Nations Special’, which will include reviews and previews of forthcoming games.
Eurosport will also have on-site crews in both host nations, with Matt Spirrow gathering exclusive interviews and insights on the ground providing content for the Eurosport website.
ITV4’s coverage will be presented by Matt Smith and consists of an evening highlights programme, which will air at around 10pm each night, and the channel will offer live coverage of four key games.
The broadcaster secured free-to-air rights to the competition from the BBC in early January, and will screen the Group B clash between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso on January 26, along with one quarter-final and one semi-final game.
Both channels will screen the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Final to be held in Libreville, Gabon, on Sunday 12th February.
Ivory Coast are the strong favourites for the title, boasting a star-studded team consisting of players present in Europe’s elite clubs, including their all-time top scorer and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.
Joining him will be club team-mate Salomon Kalou, as well as Arsenal’s summer signing Gervinho. In the heart of the midfield will be Manchester City’s Yaya Toure, while brother Kolo sits further back in central defence.
However they are yet to win a major tournament despite their obvious array of talent, which may give hope to some of the less favoured nations.
Ghana will be hoping to end the 28-year drought, having not won Africa’s showpiece competition since 1982.
They will be one of the tournament favourites as they also possess a plethora of star players, such as Asamoah Gyan (on-loan at from Sunderland to UAE’s Al Ain) and Inter Milan midfielder Sulley Muntari.
Senegal, who memorably reached the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals, possess a strong in-form Demba Ba of Newcastle in their attack, while Mali’s stand-out player is Barcelona’s Seydou Keita.
But there are also several notable absentees from the 2012 tournament, including four-time champions Cameroon, Nigeria and Egypt, who won an unprecedented third consecutive Africa Cup of Nations title in 2010.
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Africa Cup of Nations 2012 – TV Schedule
Saturday 21st January Equatorial Guinea 1-0 Libya – Group A | Kick-off: 18:30 LIVE – 6.15pm-8.30pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Senegal 1-2 Zambia – Group A | Kick-off: 21:00 LIVE – 8.55pm-11pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Sunday 22nd January Ivory Coast 1-0 Sudan – Group B | Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE – 4pm-6pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Burkina Faso 1-2 Angola – Group B | Kick-off: 19:00 LIVE – 7pm-9pm – British Eurosport 2 Highlights – 9.30pm-11pm – ITV4 Monday 23rd January Gabon 2-0 Niger – Group C | Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE – 4pm-6pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Morocco 1-2 Tunisia – Group C | Kick-off: 19:00 LIVE – 6.45pm-9pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Highlights – 10pm-11pm – ITV4 Tuesday 24rd January Ghana 1-0 Botswana – Group D | Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE – 4pm-6pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Mali 1-0 Guinea – Group D | Kick-off: 19:00 LIVE – 6.30pm-9pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Highlights – 10pm-11pm – ITV4 Wednesday 25th January Libya 2-2 Zambia – Group A | Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE – 4pm-6pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Equatorial Guinea 2-1 Senegal – Group A | Kick-off: 19:00 LIVE – 6.30pm-9pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Highlights – 10pm-11pm – ITV4 Thursday 26th January Sudan 2-2 Angola – Group B | Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE – 4pm-6pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Ivory Coast 2-0 Burkina Faso – Group B | Kick-off: 19:00 LIVE – 6.30pm-9pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD LIVE – 6.30pm-9pm – ITV4 Friday 27th January Niger 1-2 Tunisia – Group C | Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE – 4pm-6pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Gabon 3-2 Morocco – Group C | Kick-off: 19:00 LIVE – 6.30pm-9pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Highlights – 10pm-11pm – ITV4 Saturday 28th January Botswana 1-6 Guinea – Group D | Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE – 4pm-6pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Ghana 2-0 Mali – Group D | Kick-off: 19:00 LIVE – 6.30pm-9pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Highlights – 10pm-11pm – ITV4 Sunday 29th January Equatorial Guinea 0-1 Zambia – Group A | Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE – 5.30pm-8pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Libya 2-1 Senegal – Group A | Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE – 6pm-8pm – British Eurosport 2 Highlights – 10pm-11pm – ITV4 Monday 30th January Sudan 2-1 Burkina Faso – Group B | Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE – 5.30pm-8pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Ivory Coast 2-0 Angola – Group B | Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE – 6pm-8pm – British Eurosport 2 Highlights – 10pm-11pm – ITV4 Tuesday 31st January Gabon 1-0 Tunisia – Group C | Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE – 5.30pm-8pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Niger 0-1 Morocco – Group C | Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE – 6pm-8pm – British Eurosport 2 Highlights – 10pm-11pm – ITV4 Wednesday 1st February Botswana 1-2 Mali – Group D | Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE – 5.45pm-8pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Ghana 1-1 Guinea – Group D | Kick-off: 18:00 LIVE – 6pm-8pm – British Eurosport 2 Highlights – 10pm-11pm – ITV4 Saturday 4th February Zambia 3-0 Sudan – Quarter Final 1 | Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE – 4pm-6pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Ivory Coast 3-0 Equatorial Guinea – Quarter Final 2 | Kick-off: 19:00 LIVE – 6.45pm-9pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD LIVE – 6.30pm-9.30pm – ITV4 Sunday 5th February Gabon 1-1 Mali (AET, Mali won 5-4 on pens) – Quarter Final 3 | Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE – 4pm-6pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Ghana 2-1 Tunisia (AET) – Quarter Final 4 | Kick-off: 19:00 LIVE – 6pm-9pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Highlights – 10pm-11pm – ITV4 Wednesday 8th February Zambia 1-0 Ghana – Semi Final 1 | Kick-off: 16:00 LIVE – 4pm-6pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD LIVE – 3.30pm-6.15pm – ITV4 Mali 0-1 Ivory Coast – Semi Final 2 | Kick-off: 19:00 LIVE – 7pm-9pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Highlights – 10pm-11pm – ITV4 Saturday 11th February Ghana v Mali – 3rd Place Play-off | Kick-off 19:00 LIVE – 6.45pm-9pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD Sunday 12th February Zambia v Ivory Coast – Final | Kick-off: 19:30 LIVE – 7.15pm-9.30pm – British Eurosport / Eurosport HD LIVE – 6.45pm-10pm – ITV4
