Boteti FA pushes for financial independence
FRANCISTOWN: Boteti Regional Football Association (BRFA) is striving for financial independence, its chairperson Phillimon Bunu has revealed.
Bunu said thus far, they are happy that football is growing in leaps and bounds within the region.
“We intend to build offices for the Botswana Football Association (BFA) and other offices that we will rent out to private entities. We also want to construct a football pitch with an artificial surface and hostels that we will rent out to visiting teams in order to generate income within the same piece of land. This will enable us to be financially independent in future. We have not as yet found business partners who will assist us to achieve our goals of commercialisation. We have just completed bush clearing and we are looking for about P800,000 to fence the field. All in all, we will need about P5 million to complete the whole project,” Bunu told Mmegi Sport. Bunu stated that they are hopeful to get financial assistance from FIFA through the help of the BFA.
“We are hopeful that we will be considered for the FIFA development grant, which we think will go a long way in achieving some of our development plans,” he said.
Bunu also explained that they have started
negotiations with Debswana for a new sponsorship deal. “The P600,000 sponsorship for women’s football that we got from Debswana to cover a period of three years is coming to an end this year. We have already started negotiations with Debswana for a new deal and our negotiations are at an advanced stage. We are hopeful that we will conclude the negotiations before the end of this month,” an optimistic Bunu said. In another development, Bunu said the region has got a 3.7 hectare piece of land in Letlhakane that they intend to commercialise. Bunu also stated that the level of football in Boteti is growing because they have players who are playing for national teams.
“Currently, we have a player from our region Maikutlo Papiso who is playing for the senior women’s national team, The Mares. As we speak the player is currently in camp with the team preparing for the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) that will be held in Morocco,” Bunu said, adding that they are hopeful that more players from the region will also be selected to play for both junior and senior national teams.
The AWCON finals are used as a qualifier for the 2023 World Cup, with the top four teams progressing to the global showpiece while two more teams will advance to the inter-confederation playoffs.