Eye World Cup
“The main funder of the games is Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture (MYSC) through Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC). We also looked for partners and wanted sponsorship in-kind, issues of emergency medical services, hydration products and of course the support of the city council to enable us to be ready for the games. We are now on the last stages of preparations and that is why we are now dealing with administration issues such as finalizing visa applications and other hospitality matters,” Maforaga responded when quizzed about their readiness ahead of the games.
He further noted that there is a slight set in terms of the countries expected to descend in Botswana as some have already pulled out of the competition, he however remained confident that the games will go through successfully. Seven countries in addition to the hosts, Botswana, are South Africa, Lesotho, Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Tanzania and were expected to participate in the regional qualifying round to the World Cup.
“The only challenge we have faced is not a crisis; we have since experienced that, a lot of countries after reviewing their budgets have decided to pull back. Initially we were expecting eight (8) countries, now with the correspondences we are getting, we are expecting four (4) or five (5) teams. The deadlines for the team to confirm their participation is on Wednesday (today), four teams at the moment have committed and are demonstrating their participation by ways of booking accommodation and processing travel arrangements, so I’m confident that we will have at least four teams,” he said. The BSA mouthpiece further highlighted that the delays in confirming participation by other teams has made it difficult to confirm the fixtures for the tournament.
Speaking to Sun Sports after the announcement of the squad, the team coach, Tawina Phibion stated that he was content with the preparations the team has received going into the tournament, adding that he was optimistic of a positive outcome. “Before the festive break we were working, we were preparing; during weekends we were joined by players from the northern part of the country. Together with the technical team, we made selections and trimming the squad until we finalized on the team we have announced,” he said. “The start was a bit scrappy, we had challenges with proper facilities, and it was difficult to train, fortunately we were moved to Jwaneng Village Training camp; their facilities are better and it has really helped us,” he said. The BSA leadership identifies South Africa as their main rival leading up to the games and expect the local ladies to either finish first or second.
When asked about their target, Phibion stated that they are looking to put a good performance which can guarantee them a slot to compete at the next stage of the qualifying round and stand a chance to qualify for the world stage.