- 10 teams will participate at the tournament
- 1Visas delaying teams arrival
- Rugby Africa President coming to Botswana
LETLHOGILE MPUANG
President of the Botswana Rugby Union (BRU) Lesedi Keekae has revealed that they are ready to host the Africa women’s 7s rugby tournament billed for this coming weekend in Gaborone.
Botswana was selected as the host for the two day tournament after Mauritius pulled out from hosting earlier this year. The tourney is excepted to attract the participation of ten nations namely Botswana, Morocco, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Mauritius, Madagascar, Kenya, Senegal and Uganda.
In an interview with Gazette Sport at last weekend’s Super Rugby finals, won by Gaborone Hogs, Keekae said they were 90 percent ready to host after receiving some sponsorship boost.
“Our LOC (Local Organizing Committee) chaired by our Vice President Technical have gave us a report last week, and after seeing it, I would say we are 90 percent ready to host. The Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) have just come on board, they have agreed to give us the stadium (National Stadium), they are also giving us buses. Avani has come on, they are going to be giving us accommodation for all the participating teams at a discounted price, ” said the BRU President.
“KFC are also our other sponsors, they are our kit sponsors, as well as goodie bags and CA sales, who will also sponsor another goodie bag. We must also appreciate that Rugby Africa will be the responsible for paying accommodation for all these teams ,” he added.
Keekae further openly revealed that they were facing a challenge in securing visas for some of the participating nations, which he said was the main reason delaying some teams’ arrival into the country.
“The only challenge we currently face is securing visas, which is what is delaying some teams from arriving. We are however hopeful it will be resolved soon. We are expecting other teams to be arriving from the 24th (Thursday) ” he briefly pointed out.
In the end he disclosed that International Rugby Body will host a governance course for women prior to the games
“We will be hosting a delegation from World Rugby, who will be coming to the country to facilitate a governance course for women, especially that we are just from the IWG congress. They will be arriving in the country next week. We will also be having the President of Rugby Africa Abdelaziz Bougja as part of those running that course,” he ended.