Orange FA Cup set to emerge from hiatus
It has since emerged this week that Botswana Football Association ( BFA) and Orange Botswana are planning to stage the popular Orange FA Cup tournament as early as July this year following the halting of football due to the COVID 19 pandemic last year.
It has been almost over a year since it was halted at the quarter final stages even though at some point there were attempts to play the cup and conclude the second season. However this did not materialized due to the surge in COVID 19 cases and the continued suspension of sports.
According to a leaked BFA season 2021- 2022 competitions planner which has been circulating online, the Orange FA cup season 2 quarter finals have been schedule for 24th- 25th of July while the semifinals are set for July 31st - August 1st. According to the clandestine document, finals of the tournament are expected to follow on the 7th of August, which will pave way for the third edition of the competition which is scheduled to commence in October.
When the tournament paused, only eight teams: Calendar Stars, Masitaoka FC, Police XI, Jwaneng Galaxy, Notwane FC, Gaborone United, Mahalapye Railways Highlanders and Township Rollers remained. The eight clubs will chase the P700k prize money amid the financial woes caused by the COVID- 19 pandemic. Efforts to get a comment from the BFA mouthpiece Tumo Mpatane before press time proved futile as he demanded a written questionnaire instead of a telephone interview.
Contacted for comment, Orange Botswana Communication and Public Relations Manager, Ratang Motladiile said, “We are currently in discussions with our partners at BFA. That being the case we are not in a position to respond to any questions at the moment,” she said.
Orange Botswana and BFA agreed on a three year sponsorship with a value of P12.6 million in 2018 with P4.2 million injected per season. With a special transfer window set to open on the 5th of July, the document further shows that the Botswana Football League season will start on the 21st of August while the Debswana First Division Leagues will follow on the 4th of September.