The SABC and South Africa’s Premier Soccer League have confirmed the national broadcaster will not show Absa Premiership matches.

As reported by News24, the new season of the Absa Premiership started today at 15:00 – with the SABC not showing the first match.

The PSL said that the nation may have to “accept that the SABC is incapable of meeting its requirements”.

It said the situation is “unacceptable going forward”.

“The PSL will provide regular updates to the public as a solution is sought to address this unfortunate situation,” stated the report.

The SABC confirmed it did not reach the required licence agreement with the PSL and SuperSport, which would see the broadcaster “pay SuperSport R280 million for 144 matches per year for a period of five years”.

The SABC would only have made revenue of only R9.8 million per year, however, it stated. This would not have been a commercially viable agreement, it added.

This latest failure from the state broadcaster follows SABC CFO Yolandi van Biljon warning in June that a total broadcasting blackout – or “Day Zero” – was a dangerous possibility if major debtors stopped supporting the state broadcaster.

At the end of May, the broadcaster was forced to choose between paying salaries or municipal bills, opting to settle the former and incurring a R13.5-million debt to the City of Johannesburg.