Angry DStv subscribers and SABC viewers alike are demanding an explanation from SuperSport and the SABC, which both failed to show Saturday's CAF football match between the African Stars and Orlando Pirates that was scheduled for 15:00.

The Namibian team playing in Botswana, who get to licence the rights, was responsible for organising and doing the broadcast but saw its technical set-up completely implode on Saturday afternoon, leaving SuperSport and SABC Sport with on-air blackouts.

SuperSport and SABC Sport were supposed to show the CAF Champions League secondary preliminary round first leg match between Namibia's African Stars and South Africa's Orlando Pirates on Canal+'s DStv which was set for kick-off at 15:00 on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday's match was played at the Botswana National Stadium in Gaborone, Botswana, which ended in a 1-0 victory for Orlando Pirates.

There was apparently a complete host broadcast failure at the stadium that prevented the live television feed from being transmitted, which caused massive embarrassment to SuperSport and SABC Sport who paid for the rights to show it.

It's important to note that Namibia's African Stars club - rather than Botswana, and although the team played in Botswana - was responsible for producing and distributing the live feed.

Under CAF rules, broadcasting rights and responsibilities during the preliminary rounds belong strictly to the designated "home club", regardless of where the match is physically played.

The host club is the executive producer, and because this was African Stars' home match, they owned the rights to sell or distribute the TV feed.

Consequently, they were responsible for hiring a local production crew, securing the broadcast equipment, and delivering the satellite uplink feed to international buyers like SuperSport and SABC Sport.

The host feed suffered massive technical disruptions right from kick-off of the match.

This didn't just affect SuperSport. The South African public broadcaster's SABC Sport, which also held the rights to air the game on SABC2, suffered the exact same blackout.

The backup stream failed too. 

As a last resort, the SABC attempted to salvage the broadcast by switching to a rudimentary live stream on their official Facebook page. However, that feed quickly cut out mid-game as well, leaving thousands of Orlando Pirates fans completely in the dark.

SABC Sport said "We apologise for the technical difficulties affecting our live broadcast of the African Stars vs Orlando Pirates match. Our technicians are working on it".

SuperSport didn't explain anything and only said the blackout of its planned coverage "today was due to factors beyond the broadcaster's control".

"SuperSport had intended to broadcast the match, which was scheduled on DStv platforms. We regret the inconvenience caused to subscribers."

SuperSport was asked for comment on the specific reasons for the match's technical blackout failure and it will be added here when received,