Francistown Independence Cup sponsorship goes up
Chakalisa Dube | Thursday September 11, 2014 10:58
The World Group of Companies has sponsored the tournament in the past seven years. This year’s winners in the men’s category will pocket P12,500 while the runners up go home with P7,500. Each prize has been increased by P2,500.
In the women’s category, winners will walk away with P2,500 an improvement of P500 compared to last year while the runners up will get P1,250 up from P1,000.
Sponsors have set aside P4,000 for the remuneration of referees in the men’s section while women will get P600.
The administration of men’s game will cost P750 while that of women is P400. The top goal scorer, player of the tournament, best print and electronic journalist will each get P250.
Speaking during the sponsorship launch, Nasir Patel, managing director of BMS, one of the firms under World Group, said they have made it a priority to finance the tournament in a bid to contribute to the development of football in the country. “It is also vital that as a business, we give back to the community within which we operate,” he said.
Francistown mayor, James Kgalajwe challenged companies in the city to sponsor sports in the country. He said companies can benefit handsomely in terms of marketing themselves and creating awareness about their products through sponsoring events and sports teams in Francistown.
Eatametse Olopeng, the First Division North chairman and Botswana Football Association National Executive Committee (NEC) member pleaded with the private sector to support Francistown football teams.
“In order for Francistown teams to be competitive and contribute immensely to the growth of soccer in the country, they have to enjoy strong support from the private sector,” he said.
The Independence Cup begins this weekend with lower division sides fighting to book their places in the next round where they will meet top Francistown sides such as ECCO, TAFIC, TASC and Great North Tigers (GNT).
Meanwhile Kgalajwe said that he recently toured the new Francistown Stadium, which has been under construction for more than five years. He said that assurances have been made that the stadium would be complete by June next year.
So far, four companies including the main contractor are working on the stadium. The mayor said an additional P97 million will be used to fund the construction after completion was delayed by structural design problems among other factors.