beMOBILE Premiership launches despite hurdles
Mqondisi Dube | Wednesday October 5, 2016 16:13
But the sponsor and the BPL will use the Saturday titanic clash between Extension Gunners and Mochudi Centre Chiefs to officially launch the new season.
Although there are only a few days left before kick-off, there are still unresolved issues surrounding the league although the BPL office is said to be adamant they would have been solved before Friday.
With beMOBILE and parent company, BTCL recently re-branded, it is not clear whether the beMOBILE Premiership will immediately change to the new name, which will mean several changes, particularly branding.
Referees recently threatened to down tools over owed dues from last season.
This also put the start of the season in jeopardy but the BPL is said to be running around to try and sort out the problem.
The season has already been postponed, and it was already behind schedule after the late conclusion of the last campaign.
But Botswana Football Association (BFA) president, Maclean Leshwiti has declared they are ready for the new season.
He said he expects all systems to roll when the season kicks-off with clubs expected to receive their grants this week.
“We have done out best. The taste of the pudding is in the eating.”
On the forensic audit being undertaken at the Botswana Premier League, Letshwiti said the exercise would probably take another month to conclude.
“A lot of work has been done. We need maybe another month. Gathering data is always a challenge but 65 to 75% of the work has been done,” Letshwiti said.
Township Rollers, who together with Mochudi Centre Chiefs finished the league after every other side, have confirmed they are ready despite all the challenges.
“We have been ready for sometime now. Ours was to prepare a team to do the talking on the field and the rest of the things including branding of kits are up to the BPL.
The last time I checked they had not yet collected the kit for branding so I would not be sure now whether they have already done that,” Rollers spokesperson, Bafana Pheto said yesterday. He said they were expecting to receive tickets to start selling yesterday.
Meanwhile, BPL in conjunction with the sponsor (BTCL) will host a workshop for the 16 teams’ public relations officers today ahead of the start of the season.
The move is reportedly aimed at drilling the officials to be able to push both their clubs and the league’s brands in the coming season.