Football’s First National Bank

Mqondisi Dube | Monday February 19, 2024 14:21

One would have to rewind back to 2009 when then Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) introduced a game-changing deal, which was initially P24million over three seasons. At its peak the BTC sponsorship surpassed the P10 million-per-season mark, making it the richest in the history of the sport as the telecommunications company pumped close to P100 milllion in a period spanning a decade.

However, the relationship between BTC and the Botswana Football Association (BFA) broke down and the company sponsored the league for just P5 million in 2020, before exiting the scene. Since BTC’s departure, football has knocked from one door after the other but largely emerged empty handed.

It was only until recently that the First National Bank’s (FNB) door swung open with the BFA officials greeted by the commercial bank’s enduring tagline, ‘How can we help you?’ Whatever the BFA said should have resonated with the FNB’s mission or maybe it was a case of feeling pity for a game that has struggled to attract a title sponsor for its premier division, the Botswana Premier League. It was unfathomable that the league would kick-off again next season amid the drying coughers. Now armed with more than P28 million from the FNB sponsorship over the next three season, football administrators can breathe a lot easier. However, as is the case with the polarised nature of local football, the sponsorship deal ignited the now irritating toxic factional talks. It’s known that there are two groups, one aligned to the BFA president, Maclean Letshwiti and the other loyal to the association’s former president, Tebogo Sebego. Instead of the sponsorship being viewed in all positive light, social media key board warriors wanted the spotlight to shine on them as they sustained their usual back-and-forth fights. How the sponsorship came is of little consequence at the moment.

Those keen to use the deal to score cheap points are misguided and they do not have football at heart. What is key is that the money should benefit the most critical components of the game; the players. If the money does not trickle down to players, then it will be a futile exercise. The players and coaches had to endure three seasons without a sponsor and now their bank balances, no matter how small, should start reflecting the fruits of the FNB sponsorship. The same applies to the Mares as P13.5 million of the P54 million from FNB is set aside for the women’s team.

The P54 million should be jealously guarded and used for intended purposes so that more partners can come on board. FNB decided to join the bandwagon when it was least fashionable to do so and for that, they deserve every credit. The deal comes at a time when football authorities have made it an irritating habit to engage in ugly public spats. If football was all clean, devoid of the regular fights, we could be seeing more FNBs come on board.