First Division South boss hails �best season ever�
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Thursday September 14, 2017 15:58
Sharps finished first and gained automatic promotion while Santos edged Motlakase Power Dynamos in the play-off to take up the other spot. Keitireng said he was happy that the league ended without any boardroom wrangles like in the previous seasons.
“We have run the best season ever without any team being accused of putting the game into disrepute,” he said. He added that they strive to continue to run a smooth league and urged supporters to desist from hooliganism since it taints the image of the game. He also said by the time the league ended, they had settled all their balances.
“When the league ended, we were able to pay all the referees that officiated in our league” he said. Keitireng also hailed the partnership with Debswana saying the league has shown a significant improvement since the arrival of the diamond mining company as the sponsor. He pointed out that ever since Debswana’s arrival, they promoted teams to the elite league and have never experienced a situation where one of them returned immediately to the lower division.
“Last season, we promoted Security Systems and Black Forest and they have managed to maintain their status in the Premier League,” he said. “Security Systems in particular managed to finish in the top eight bracket.” He said they expect both Santos and Sharps to stand their ground following their promotion to the Premier League this season.
Both Debswana and First Division are in their second season in the three-year contract they entered into last season. Debswana pumped in P6 million in which they disburse P2 million each season for three years. From the P2 million, each of the 24 teams in the First Division receives P50,000 as a grant.
Meanwhile, Keitireng said this weekend they will use the match between Notwane and Letlapeng to officially launch the season. The game will be played at Otse Police College on Saturday afternoon. He said they will continue to rotate the launches each season across all regions after holding it in Francistown last season.