Selebi-Phikwe region promises to pay referees
Olefile Serokolo | Friday August 18, 2017 15:32
Referees were not paid in the second half of last season, which Moloi attributed to the newly introduced youth league for exhausting their budget.
“As a region it is our responsibility to make sure that referees are paid, but it differs with other regions where referees are paid by teams. At regional level, we use subvention, registration fees and affiliation fees to run our daily activities. Botswana Football Association (BFA) gives us P30,000 and we use P15,000 per (each) half of the season,” he said.
Moloi said they are planning a pre-season tournament and gate takings will be channelled towards paying referees. He also added that they expect registration books and affiliation fees to help them settle their debts. He further said they discussed the arrangement with teams so that they can meet them half way.
The SPRFA boss said they have a good working relationship with the referees in the region. “Our referees understand the situation we are in. We always involve them when we have problems and we expect this relationship to continue in the coming season,” Moloi said.
Moloi, who attended the BFA annual general assembly last Saturday, said there is a P3 million sponsorship from MD Tours for all the 17 regions countrywide. He said they were told at the AGM that the sponsorship would run for three years with P1 million allocated for each season.
He said as a region, they expect P50,000. He said the money would be used more on youth development. He said they were encouraged as regional leaders to prioritise youth development and make sure that youth leagues are established at regions. He said the money would also help regions because they had programmes that needed funding.
Selebi-Phikwe region coach, Tebelelo Bashi said teams should take development seriously. He urged every team to have a youth team. Bashi who is also a primary school teacher said this could also benefit senior teams as the youth side can act as a feeder team.
Bashi praised the BFA president, Maclean Letshwiti for his commitment to development. He added that coaches should be given support so that they can impart their knowledge on these children. He further said parents and teachers should be involved because children work even harder in their presence.