BFL prospects looking good
have secured a P4 million grant geared towards the start of the league.
“We have another source who will give us a P4 million grant, not to be returned; it’s from sports council who are working with the Ministry of Sports to help the teams,” Zakhem told this publication.
Quizzed on whether the league will start a million pula short of what the BFL resolution states, the BFL chairman said they have engaged as the board to make a decision on that particular detail.
“When we introduced the P15 million, it targeted the operations of a full football season. You cannot say we can’t start because we have P14 million; the league will start three (3) months late, this means the expenses have gone a bit down and the available funds should be able to run the league. ”
“We are in the process of securing sponsorship from BTV, a deal will be signed soon; and we also have ABSA. We have been talking to various title sponsors, it may not materialize this year but will significantly contribute to the future success prospects of the league. Besides that, there is Engen and Motor Centre who are willing to help and their contribution will go a long way to help the league,” Zakhem explained.
The BFL CEO, Solomon Rachohlwane has repeatedly assured the public that the league will soon launch sponsors for the league. The Gaborone United Director, Zakhem, has however hinted strong possibilities that the league will probably kick-off without a title sponsor.
“We were scheduled to start on the 22nd of October, even if we start early November there is still a possibility that we would not have finalized our talks with potential sponsors. It is very difficult to attract a title sponsor at this time of the year. We are dealing with big companies, decision making takes time. If someone agrees now to sponsor the league, we will announce them as the title sponsor but I don’t see it happening now,” he said.
“It is not only BTC we are looking at, we have KBL, we can engage ABSA,
Mascom is there, there is Lucara, we’ve approached them. Things will improve, but we are not going to rush into decisions,” he highlighted.
All eyes are on Zakhem who has challenged the operations of the BFL top brass in recent months. He was appointed as the chairman of the board last week and imminent progress is expected as the start of the league draws closer.
The Gaborone business mogul has called for cooperation amongst the BFL to ensure football returns in the best way possible.
“When I accepted the chairmanship, I looked at the team that I will be working with; we have Jagdish Shah, Jilika Njabulo. We will be relying very much on the experiences of everyone in the board, their wisdom in the game is imperative. It is a good team and I am relying on them more than I rely on myself. We will form some sub-committees to help us with the operations; we can’t do everything by ourselves. If we work together, we will succeed” he concluded.