Kabelano Charity Cup Stalemate Unresolved

MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent | Monday July 26, 2010 00:00

 

According to Premier League General Manager, Phuthego Setete, they have reached an understanding with Kabelano Trust and have passed the matter on to BFA to consult with Premier League sponsors, Be MOBILE.

Phuthego said there is a clause in the contract agreement between Premier League and Be MOBILE that provides that they can consult with the sponsors in a case where a rival company is interested in sponsoring an event where Premier League teams are involved. Phuthego said the buck only stops with Be MOBILE and that if they do not agree to Kabelano's request, then this year's competition would not be held.   

The charity cup that was initially scheduled for May 29 was moved to July 31 because of unavailability of the National Stadium.  But things took a different twist when the Premier League announced that it would not avail its teams to take part in the event because Premier League sponsors' rival company, Mascom, sponsors the event. However, Kabelano Trust refused to give up but decided to engage Premier League further on the matter. In its case, Kabelano argued that it still has a running contract with the Premier League.

Kabelano Trust chairperson, Terrence Dambe, also said they were satisfied with their talks with Premier League and hoped that their discussion would bear fruit in the end. The two parties have been in discussions for about four months now and Dambe said it should be understood that issues that involve a lot of stakeholders take time to be resolved.

Dambe said they are also hopeful that the issue would be resolved soon because from their discussions, it is clear that there is much rapport among the stakeholders. However, whether this year's edition of the cup will be held still remains to be seen.

Kabelano Charity Cup is a one-day soccer spectacular that has been played every year since 1996 save for 1999 and 2009. Mascom started sponsoring the event this year after taking over from their rivals, Orange Botswana.