The Mares need P7.2 million
Botswana Football Association (BFA) has announced that the women senior national team needs at least P7. 2 million for their maiden appearance at the Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON).
According to BFA CEO Mfolo Mfolo, the team needs at least P7. 2 Million to prepare for the match.
Mfolo revealed that the costly exercise to ready the team is underway and a training camp in South Africa, Pretoria is on the pipeline to use a high performance centre whilst they will be exploring opportunities to play against Mamelodi Sundowns’ ladies team. The senior women national team, will before traveling to South Africa, play two friendly matches against Zambia in their preparations for the upcoming AWCON finals to be held in Morocco.
“We implore the public and the private sector to come on board and play a significant role in helping us to tone down our P7. 2 million budget. It is a huge amount but for us to have a chance of success this is the investment we have to make. We have secured friendly matches against Zambia, and we will travel to South Africa to access high performances facilities and hopefully secure a few friendly matches that side,” Mfolo shared. “We were also looking at having a training camp in Slovakia; we have a relationship with them and given the unstable situation in Russia and Ukraine, we have had to reconsider our plans. We are looking to have our training camp in Tunisia before the kick-off of the tournament. We feel Tunisia is an ideal place for us to prepare before going into Morocco.
Mfolo declined to reveal the current amount in their coffers in relation to the team’s preparatory budget and stated that they are expecting the government through the Botswana
National Sports Commission to make a contribution to their course.
Botswana eliminated Zimbabwe in a pulsating two legged tie to advance to their maiden appearance in the AWCON finals. In 2019, the team invested a lot in preparations to qualify for the Olympics, including a long camp in Slovakia, eliminating Namibia and South Africa before they were stopped by Zambia in the last hurdle to book a ticket to Japan.
Immediately after the BFA CEOs’ pronouncements, Letshwiti family through Aucillia Letshwiti donated
Umbro leisure equipment to the team valued in the region of P20 000. “I have some casual wear to ensure you’re all comfortable in your pursuit for further achievements. Each team member will get a t/shirt and a pair of trainer as a token of appreciation from my family to spur you on, to show you that we see you, we care for you and we love you,” Letshwiti said.
Local Water and mineral company, O3 were also announced as the official sponsors of the team, in a deal that will see O3 supply the women national teams with water for the next three (3) years. “We will supply the team with O3 water; we will be with the team in Morocco to support them. I also want to announce here today that we pledge to take some supporters to Morroco; I urge the business community to come on board and support the team,” O3 CEO, Ali Mohammed said.
The team has been on camp in the last few weeks and questions have been asked on whether it will get friendly matches.
Following the team’s qualification to the AWCON finals, BFA developed a strategic plan led by the BFA Technical Director, Tshepo Mphukuthi, to ensure that the team is ready to compete, which resulted in projection of the P7.2 million budget needed to enhance success prospects of the team.