Negative image affects women�s league sponsorship hunt
Spira Tlhankane | Friday July 17, 2015 13:08
The committee’s treasurer Oaitse Moeti told Mmegi Sport their search is mostly hampered by the negative publicity football has been receiving.
He however, said they have not given up on finding sponsorship before the league resumes. “We are still on it, securing a sponsorship deal is very important for our growth therefore we will continue to knock on doors and hopefully someone will answer our prayers,” he said.
Moeti said finding a commercial partner could transform the status of the league and it is their priority to secure one. The BFA has tasked the new committee with finding a sponsor. He said the negative image created by the men’s game had affected their chances of landing a sponsor. “Sponsors are looking to get involved in sports, but some do not want to be associated with us because of the aspects that have tainted men’s football,” he explained.
Moeti said among the issues they discussed is the need to improve their relations with the Botswana Football Association (BFA).
“We had relation challenges with our mother body, but that has since changed lately because we have been working hand in hand to map the way forward,” he said.
He added that the women’s league would no longer work parallel with men’s football but rather establish regional structures. He said the new committee reviewed many issues like late payment of referees.
“We need to improve our relations with referees because we have had situations whereby referees were not paid on time,” he said. Moeti indicated that the matter was not their fault as they receive funds from BFA and that includes paying referees.
Among other issues, Moeti said they were concerned about the performance of their national teams. “Our teams perform badly and we need to work on improving our performance,” he said. Moeti said the major factor that contributed to poor performance was because the teams are not involved in many preparatory matches. BFA technical director, Benny Kgomela said the BFA technical team works with the women’s league committee, but the league committee is solely responsible for issues of finding sponsorship. “The league committee is independent and they do not directly work with us. The NEC only come to us when they have found sponsorship so that we could endorse the deal,” he explained. Elected to the new committee are Tapiwa Gaebolae as the chairperson, deputised by Alex Malete. Keeng Mosinyi is the secretary with Kefilwe Mothibi as the vice secretary. Moeti is the treasurer while Maria Galefufa and Irene Kgosimore are additional members.