Ghanaians are likely to miss out on a chance to watch the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola if the three main free to air television stations fail to cough up €1.5 million to buy the television rights.

The consortium of TV3, Metro TV and state-owned Ghana Television (GTV) are banking their hopes on corporate bodies by way of sponsorships and the government to assist, Goal.com has learnt.

LC 2 International who owns the rights to the 27th edition of the biggest football showpiece on the continent are not willing to budge in their whopping figures, kickoff.com reported.

“This would be a major blow to this sports loving country of ours. The money is huge but we can’t do anything about it than pay to connect the public to their team.

“If worse becomes worst the government has no option than to step in to save the situation. This is not the first time. In 2006 the same issue occurred and the NPP government intervened. It would really be disastrous for Ghanaians if the worse happens,” Aishetu Abubakar, a sports fan in Accra told Goal.com.

In 2006, the same issue came up ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt and it took the timely intervention of the then government to cover €1 million for Ghanaians to watch the matches live on television.

Ghana is battling West African neighbours - Ivory Coast, Togo and Burkina Faso – in the tournament that kicks off in January.