- BNSC only financed the team not for the hosting of the tournament
- The hosting policy is still under review
LETLHOGILE MPUANG
The Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) are said to have not made any financial assistance in the recent hosting of the AUSC region 5 Karate Championships. Botswana Karate Association (BOKA) hosted the region 5 karate championships this past week, in which countries such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, South Africa, Namibia and Zambia participated.
Though the tournament turned out to be a success, and also some of the participating nations giving Botswana thumps up on the successful hosting, it has since emerged that the custodians of local sport did not play any role in the tournament.
According to officials, BOKA and the local organizing committee (LOC) appointed to organize the games were left alone to carry the financial brunt for preparing for the competition after the BNSC made it clear that they would not fund the games citing the hosting policy as an excuse. This left BOKA and the LOC to relay on financial assistance from the corporate sector.
The BNSC hosting policy states that affiliates should inform their office that they are hosting a regional tournament a year in advance if they wish to gain financial assistance from the mother body. However, it is said that that was not the case for BOKA, who were only informed by the regional office, that they will be hosting the tournament less than a year to go.
BOKA President Tshepo Bathai confirmed that they did not get any assistance from the BNSC. “We had a budget of P649 000, and we were able to raise a lot of it from the private sector, the government only assisted on a few things, because we are still in discussion with the BNSC, especially on the issue of the hosting policy. It is a difficult one because you will never have a letter from the regional organization that you are hosting a year before. So if you put in your request like we did, which was less than a year, BNSC will automatically reject it,” Sensei Bathai told this publication.
He added that the BNSC was only able to finance the team representing the country.
“In terms of paying for the halls, transport, medals and etc, we are responsible for that. They (BNSC) are only taking care of our team, as if it was just like it was hosted outside the country. We had to run around and look for sponsors to take care of the costing elements,” he continued.
In closing, he pointed out that some of the few lessons learned were mostly to do with the marketing and branding of their events, but said they will need a better budget going forward to improve in this area. Botswana will yet again next year host another high profile karate tournament in the Africa Karate Championships.