JOHANNESBURG – Following the signing of the broadcast agreement between Athletics SA (ASA) and the SABC a fortnight ago, the national federation on Friday released the broadcast schedule of events for the 2020 Athletics season.
In the SABC schedule, only four events will be broadcast live which are the Two Oceans Marathon, Comrades Marathon, Nelson Mandela Marathon and the Cape Town Marathon. The rest of the 19 events will be delayed broadcasts.
All the ASA disciplines of Cross Country, Road Running and Track & Field will be broadcasted by the SABC as part of the deal.
“This is a milestone for us because we have finally found a balance for all events to be on broadcast,” said Aleck Skhosana. “This will also assist those who thought athletics was only about road running, which is incorrect.
“The schedule also pre-answers questions of whether these will be transmitted live or delayed. The first event to be broadcasted is the Twizza Super Schools Series which was held on February 1. It will be on the screens on March 7 as it was accordingly scheduled as delayed. Tonight’s broadcast is part of ASA’s strategy to strengthen Schools Athletics in South Africa.
“It is important to note that due to other factors beyond each other’s control not every competition on our ASA National Fixtures List will be broadcast live. However, the major achievement for us is that we are once again going to have extensive broadcast coverage and that the dates and times are now clearer.”
In March and April, athletics will be broadcast every Saturday, with March seeing a focus on individual elite athletes, Relay Teams and the Olympic Games build up.
In April, the focus will be on the junior athletes qualifying for the 2020 World Junior Championships, as well as senior athletes seeking to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.