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De Beers deal reaffirms Tebogo's global stature

In a landmark deal on Friday, diamond mining giant, De Beers, announced Letsile Tebogo as its global brand ambassador with focus on telling the story of natural diamonds.

Natural diamonds are facing increasing pressure from synthetic diamonds and Tebogo has been identified to, among others, be part of a campaign to revitalise desire for natural diamonds. In a statement, De Beers indicated that Tebogo, Botswana's first Olympic gold medalist, will lead an initiative that celebrates Botswana's diamond heritage.

At the moment, there is no local brand bigger than Tebogo and the De Beers deal reaffirms his stature as a global superstar. His rise to prominence was accelerated during the 2023 World Athletics Championships where he won a silver and bronze medal. Last year, Tebogo affirmed his arrival on the biggest stage with a gold medal in the 200m before leading the 4x400m relay team to a silver medal. While local brands like Orange Botswana have queued up to associate with Tebogo, it is the De Beers deal that is expected to be the game changer. De Beers is a world renowned diamond company that has, in a large way, been part of Botswana's economic success story. It is a perfect deal, which is expected to spur Tebogo to greater heights as he prepares to take part in his second World Championships scheduled for Tokyo.

Tokyo holds fond memories as it is where Botswana won its second Olympic medal through the 4x400m in 2021. But while the country appreciates the De Beers-Tebogo partnership, we should not forget the deals that largely went under the radar. Some companies associated with Tebogo long before it was a fashionable to do so. The De Beers deal is expected to open the floodgates, not just for Tebogo but for other excelling future stars. It is testament that the sky is not even the limit for ambitious local sportspersons. Once one excels and has a clean image, there are endless opportunities for life changing partnerships such as the De Beers one. We do not need to know how much Tebogo will get from the deal, as through inherent good faith, we assume that a company of De Beers' stature will do the needful.

Archaic football laws

To football; last week saw the Botswana Football League handle a complaint from Jwaneng Galaxy over the 'unfair' dismissal of their goalkeeper, Victor James. The league structures acknowledged that indeed the player was not supposed to receive the red card as he handled the ball within the box. While accepting responsibility, the BFL said there is no provision to overrule the referees' final decision. But elsewhere the world has progressed and a dismissal, with sufficient or conclusive evidence, is reviewed. The local game should move with times and introduce progressive laws in line with global trends. It is a shame that officials are used a scapegoat as they are human and make mistakes. There should be provisions for a third eye, in this case a review committee, to confirm or overturn a critical decision.

Editor's Comment
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We duly congratulate them to have ousted the long ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) from power. Prior to taking power from the BDP, the coalition had made several election promises that are credited for influencing change and swaying the people to vote in its favour.The party had made an undertaking, which its leader and President Duma Boko consistently bellowed in his campaign trail. These undertakings were promises that Batswana would be...

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