For the media, modern football games no longer conclude when the referee blows the final whistle. The end of one game signals the start of preparations for coverage of the next one. This cycle continues until the season or tournament concludes. This is true for the Total Energies-sponsored Confederation of African Football (CAF), Africa Nations’ Championships 2024, known as CHAN24. The tournament is currently taking place in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zanzibar. There are 19 teams divided into three groups, playing across five stadiums in the three East African countries.
So, CHAN24 football commentary and punditry are easy, right? Far from it! First, Kenya has not hosted a continental soccer tournament in a while, which is a big deal. This coverage should start from the ground up, then delve deeply into analysing players’ statistics, team details, and game scorelines. Gathering relevant match data and history about teams, players, and coaching staff is essential. Professional commentary involves thorough research, working with facts, and avoiding shortcuts.
Plenty of radio stations are getting the live CHAN tournament feed from television and doing parallel commentaries. Unprepared commentators and pundits, who show up speaking off the top of their heads, should not be entertained. These are shortcuts, and it’s a terrible mistake. Modern audiences are well-informed enough to spot inaccuracies and call them out for what they are.
The CHAN24 tournament commentary should go beyond just gathering facts online; how this information is presented to the audience is crucial. It’s not about simply regurgitating abstract data found online, since anyone with a computer can access these details. It’s about personalising the delivery when curating statistics for viewers and listeners. Sports commentary should have an element of artistry, with every pass, dribble and goal.
Football is an emotional affair for fans. One set is elated when their team scores; there is stomach-wrenching frustration and horror for the opposite fans when a goal is conceded. It is the conveyance of these emotions that keeps audiences glued to live coverage. The ball hitting the net can unleash a rush of delirium and commentators should know how to capture these moments. You cannot be openly biased as a commentator; never get carried away on account of a team you support.
Commentators should vary the tone in pace with the proceedings. Sometimes, it involves trusting one’s instincts about what a goal means to fans in the context of the game, depending on when the goal is scored. A late equalizer doesn’t carry the same significance as a goal in a scoreless draw.
While Kenya’s football commentary has developed over the years, today’s sports commentators can learn important lessons from the past. In a February 16 article, Nation newspaper’s Bethuel Oduo highlights the late Leonard Mambo Mbotela as a master of football commentary. Mambo was part of a generation alongside other football commentary legends like Jack Oyoo Sylvester, Salim Manga, and Mohamed Juma Njuguna.
“ Leonard Mambo had this ability to describe everything in finer detail, so radio listeners who were not in the stadium would imagine the match atmosphere in the stadium. Describing the physique of different players was another joy when listening as he would launch a string of different adjectives.”
The CHAN24 tournament commentary should fill every available second of airtime. The best commentators match their words with the action; they know when to stay quiet and let a match breathe.
Celebrated British football commentator for Sky and NBC Sports, Peter Drury, advises: “The best you can do is be yourself. Don’t pretend to be someone else. Don’t mimic another commentator. Have the humility to listen to advice and learn, because you are always learning. However, it is also important to realise that just another goal to supporters of a club is their goal, and so you have to deliver it as best you can.”
