Chiefs, Rollers revive rivarly in Unity Cup
Kabelo Boranabi | Wednesday December 2, 2015 14:27
According to the director of Men and Boys for Gender Equality (MBGE), Desmond Lunga the game will be used to raise gender-based violence awareness through sport.
“We chose the two teams because of their following. In this case, we are targeting the perpetrators. We are not in any way neglecting the women’s teams. This is new project we hope to engage them in the coming years,” he said.
For his part, the Footballers Union of Botswana (FUB) honorary president, Diphetogo Selolwane said they held workshops to sensitise the teams on the matter. He also said they intend to spread the message to the other 14 teams in the elite league.
“We have had cases before where our players were involved in gender-based violence. As FUB, we want to build modern players who do not only think about playing but also about other matters that affect the society they live in,” said the former Zebras player.
The representatives of the teams expressed delight to take part in an activity that will sensitise against a social ill. Chiefs’ Pontsho Moloi said the players are excited to play in the cup and will give it their all. “We are modern players so we should do things differently. We want to lead by example, we are in the eyes of the society. Most people look up to us so we should be responsible and show that we are against such social ills,” he said.
“We decided to honour the invitation, as our players are in one way or another affected by the issue at hand. Rollers is excited to be part of this whole campaign and we hope the message will reach the multitudes it intended to reach,” said Rollers’ public relations officer, Phempheretlhe Pheto.
The game comes at a time when the world is commemorating 16 days of activism against gender-based violence and in a period Botswana is host to the International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG).