UNCERTAINTY OVER BOTSWANA GAMES
Insufficient funds might see government passing on this year’s event
Botswana’s developmental multi sports tournament, Botswana Games is faced with uncertainty due to financial woes, currently bedeviling the sports fraternity in the country.
The games are supposed to be staged this year but things are still sketchy as to whether the games will go ahead as planned due to Botswana National Sports Commission(BNSC) being short funded. Recently, national sports associations were informed of the dire financial state at the commission, a predicament which forced the latter to cut the affiliates budget by P20 million, leaving the associations with a paltry P8 million budget to share.Funding from the government has not been increased, with BNSC receiving P100 700 000.00 grant to spend on their affiliates subventions, special projects and the day to day expenses.The commission is now expected to fund both Botswana Games and Africa Union
Sports Council(AUSC) Region 5 games from the same grant, a departure from the norm as both events have been getting a special direct budget from the government.
It has since emerged that the commission has made it clear to affiliates during a meeting two weeks back that Botswana Games Will not be hosted this year.However, in an interview with Sun Sport, BNSC Chief Executive Officer, Tuelo Serufho said they are yet to make a decision regarding the games. “A decision is yet to be reached on this. Once a firm position has been reached, the media will be advised accordingly. Currently, there is a bit of a headache for us because normally, we host Botswana Games in December and this time around, we have another commitment of AUSC Region 5 games in Lesotho, “said Serufho. The games have produced many athletes who went on to star at national team level in different sports disciplines. Established in 2007, the games have been held every two years without fail and so far only
Francistown and Gaborone regions have hosted the games. With the sole mandate of unearthing new talent from across regions, the games have also been used by various sports bodies to select their respective teams for AUSC region 5 games. Meanwhile, due to the dire financial constraints that the commission is having, the AUSC Region 5 games are going to be affected as well. The games were supposed to be staged in Lesotho last year but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they were postponed to 2021. In the past years, Botswana always sent a big team to the games but it seems it won’t be the case this year as the commission is yet to name sporting codes which will compete at the games. “Possibility is that we will go to AUSC region 5 games with a reduced team compared to the past years. This is because we have to scale down many things because our grant was not increased. Also, all along these kind of games were funded outside the sports grant but this time around, they are our responsibility,” said Serufho.