Air Botswana rescues Under-17 trip
Thato Kala | Friday July 18, 2014 12:21
The trip hung in the balance early this week after the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) delayed to release funding.
At some point, the association thought of either cancelling the trip or sending the team by bus, but Air Botswana came to the rescue by agreeing to fly the players to Zambia after part payment for tickets.
Because of the uncertainty, Zambia’s Under-17 national football team manager, Goodson Mboozi cried foul on Wednesday, saying Botswana had kept them in the dark about the trip.
“We are still waiting to hear from them (BFA). They have not yet said when they would be in, maybe by the end of the day we will know,” Mboozi told The Post of Zambia.
BFA chief executive officer, Keith Masters put up a brave face when asked about the challenges yesterday. “It is all ok,” he said without going into detail. But sources said the trip remained in doubt until Air Botswana came to the rescue.
Meanwhile, BFA president, Tebogo Sebego has said the team trained yesterday morning in Lusaka and were to visit the grave yard for the Zambian national that perished in an air crash in 1993.
“The head of delegation called me and says the team arrived well and they trained this morning (yesterday). They will visit the grave yard for the players who died in a plane crash,” he said.
China Matlhaku’s boys face Zambia at Sunset Stadium before the return fixture on the weekend of August 2.