Post-Rio tour costs P300,000, little for athletes
Mqondisi Dube | Wednesday August 31, 2016 15:10
BNOC chief executive officer, Tuelo Serufho said they had left a budget for the post Olympic Games tours, and they would spend P300,000.
He said if the team had won medals, the budget would have been bigger, but they have to keep it at P300,000 after tours were limited to Gaborone, Francistown as well as some villages along the A1 highway.
But Serufho could not be drawn into indicating what the athletes, besides allowances, had received for their efforts in Brazil. Only Choppies made a pledge where the 4x400m team will share P75,000 for reaching the finals while 400m runner Karabo Sibanda also receives a similar amount for his exploits.
“Athletes receive allowances. If they had won medals in Brazil, they were going to be rewarded according to the government athlete incentive scheme,” Serufho told Mmegi Sport.
Quizzed on why they did not forego the tour and paid athletes instead, Serufho argued it was important for the team to interact and appreciate the support from Batswana. “It is not anomalous to celebrate teams. Even Iceland (soccer team) celebrated even though they did not win (the EURO Championships). It is critical for the athletes to appreciate the level of support and this will motivate them,” he said. Serufho defended the tour arguing the team had recorded notable achievements worth celebrating.
“We want to appreciate the support from Batswana and also celebrate the achievements attained,” he said.
Serufho said the fact that Botswana featured three athletes in the semi finals of the 400m, have two junior runners, Baboloki Thebe and Karabo Sibanda, ranked first and second in the world, and that the relay team finished fifth and twice broke the national record, is reason to celebrate.
“In our view, we have made headways. It is a young team and we expect a lot from them in the future,” Serufho said.