Hectic 2014 leaves BCF broke
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday January 9, 2015 12:59
Tshenolo Maruatona told Mmegi Sport that international assignments gobbled much of the budget of the national chess body.
The BCF received a grant of P600,000 from the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) in the last financial year. However, there were numerous international trips in 2014, which left the federation in the red.
Maruatona said the trip of the national team to the World Chess Olympiad in Tromso, Norway gobbled P500,000 while the junior team’s participated in the World Youth Championships consumed P200,000. The national team also took part in the Africa Individual Championships in Namibia. Maruatona said that the national team participated in some of international tournaments for the first time and this is why their coffers ran dry.
“We might not be having funds at the moment but that will not stop us from hosting tournaments. We will be having our first tournament of the year this month,” he said.
Maruatona said his committee worked hard for the federation to source extra funds and they did not depend entirely on the BNSC grant. He said that they hosted all their tournaments due to the good relationship with companies such as National Development Bank (NDB), Metropolitan Botswana, Debswana Mining Company and Roscoe Bona Valuers.