Rakgare snubs Choppies?
During Tuesday’s send-off ceremony organised for the Olympic Games team, Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC), Tumiso Rakgare acknowledged companies that had contributed towards the team.
But there was no mention of Choppies, which has pledged to pay P1 million to gold medal winners.
Rakgare was conspicuous by his absence at Choppies’ occasion to announce incentives to the team. The company has pledged P1 million for a gold medal, P500,000 for silver and P250,000 for bronze. There is P25,000 that will be offered to any team member who reaches the finals in their respective events. Relay teams will receive the same amounts, which will be shared equally among team members.
Rakgare was to give a keynote address at the event but no reason was given for his absence.
According to information reaching Mmegi Sport, Rakgare is not happy with Choppies’ pledge.
“The minister is not happy with how the company handled the pledge. He had requested the company to assist the team during preparations. He also suggested that they give out some allowances to the team before their departure to Tokyo. That did not happen,” a source said.
The source added this could be the reason why the minister did not attend the Choppies sponsorship handover event nor did he acknowledge the company’s contribution.
Rakgare, however, refused to comment on the matter.
“I can only talk about what Mascom did. I am not against anything, but I am happy about what Mascom did,” he briefly told Mmegi Sport.
Choppies marketing manager, Katlego Gaborone also could not be drawn into discussing the matter. She explained that Choppies has and always will be in full support of sport development in Botswana.
“We are and have been involved with the sponsorship of different sporting codes over the years. We believe strongly in the capabilities of our athletes,” she said.
Asked if the pledge was realistic given the tough competition at the Olympics, Gaborone said they have the belief the team will bring medals home.
Regarding coming late to the party, Gaborone said Choppies has contributed to the preparations citing their support to Baboloki Thebe as an example.
“We have been sponsoring Thebe for three years as he prepared for the Olympics. The sponsorship is still on to date,” she said.
Meanwhile, Rakgare said the government will also reward athletes through the existing incentives.
Gold medal winners get P100,000 while silver medalists receive P75,000 and P50,000 for bronze. There is P10,000 for finishing in the top four and P5,000 for the top five. For a team, the members receive the same amount per athlete as per medal categories.
As for coaches, when the team or athlete wins a gold medal, they are awarded P10,000. There are P7,500 for silver and P5,000 for bronze medals respectively. A coach receives P1,000 if a team or athlete finishes in the top four and P350 for the top-eight finish. There are also incentives for other officials.
“We went out of our way to give them allowances against what exists on paper. The existing reward structure will be used when the teams return from the Olympics,” he said.
Rakgare said the incentives are currently being reviewed. He said it takes a lot of hard work to qualify for the Olympics, arguing P100,000 for gold medalists is too little. The incentives that are used to pay athletes came into effect in 2012.