Gumbo ready for Flamingoes' flight
Chakalisa Dube | Tuesday June 22, 2021 15:52
Gumbo has already arrived in Sua following his appointment in April. He replaces the late David Bright who succumbed to COVID-19.
Gumbo signed a two-year deal. Although the club would not disclose contents of Gumbo’s contract, insiders said it was agreed that the coach’s contract will only come into effect once football activities resume. The 2021-2022 league season is expected to start in August this year after the government recently approved the return to play.
“Gumbo is around. He is expected to start working with the team after COVID-19 tests, which will be done this week. The team will also undergo the tests that will also be carried out this week as part of guidelines set by the Botswana Football Association (BFA) with reference to the return of football under COVID-19 conditions,” Sua Flamingoes chairperson, Tirelo Thebe said yesterday.
“We will possibly start training sometime before the end of the week. We have to ensure full compliance of COVID-19 guidelines before we could start training,” he said.
Even though Gumbo will start working with the team as soon as he has finished his medicals, sources said his contract will officially start on July 1.
Thebe said that the preliminary phase of the club’s pre-season will only be training at the club’s base in Sua Town. “We will keep on adjusting the progamme of our pre-season based on the guidelines that have been set by the BFA,” he said.
Last week the BFA said that the resumption of football will be done in phases. Phase one, which started early this week involved Premiership teams resuming training. The BFA said phase two, which will start later this month, will feature pre-season tournaments before the start of the 2021-2022 league season.