The women's team touched down in Tangier, Morocco last week, ready to confront the challenge ahead where they face record champions, Nigeria, Tunisia and Algeria in Group B. Group A has Morocco, Zambia, Senegal and Democratic Republic of Congo while Group C comprises defending champions South Africa, Ghana, Mali and Tanzania. The finals also serve as a qualifier for the 2028 World Cup finals with the finalists assured of a place in the global showpiece. A third team might make it to the World Cup through a continental play-off. In their debut appearance in Morocco in 2022, the Mares won the hearts of the fans with the exciting brand of football where they progressed to the quarter-finals but narrowly lost to the hosts. While the Mares have set a clear target of progressing beyond the group stages, there is no certainty on the financial rewards.
The Botswana Football Association (BFA) chief executive officer, Mfolo Mfolo told SportMonitor that there has been no final decision on the Mares' incentives. "Nothing has been finalised to date because we are still all out to receive pledges from those who want to assist," Mfolo said. In addition to the bonuses, the BFA will be guided by the government's incentive policy depending on the team's performance in Morocco. In 2022, the Mares received P557, 000 from government, where each player got P20, 000, head coach, Gaolethoo Nkutlwisang was given P15, 000 while her assistants got P12,500. The rest of the technical team were given P10,000. Diamond mining company, Lucara chipped in with P200, 000 which was shared among the players and technical staff.
