Botswana’s premier cup that gave fans of the beautiful game memorable matches and moments and determined the country’s participants in the annual CAF Confederation Cup will miss yet another year
BONGANI MALUNGA
The Mascom Top 8 competition will not be returning this year, the mobile telecommunications giant behind the eponymous cup tournament, Mascom Wireless, has announced.
The competition has not been staged since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Making the announcement, Mascom put its inability to return the tournament this year down to budgetary constraints.
The 2020/2021 and the 2021/2022 editions were also cancelled because local football was still adjusting to limitations that hindered them from returning to action as fast as other leagues around the world did.
The competition – which is Botswana’s most lucrative knockout cup tournament with high voltage value for the winning team and its fans – was widely expected to make a comeback this year after local football returned to action without any difficulty.
Challenges to business fundamentals
The title sponsors of the competition said the competition will not take place due to budgetary constraints that have presented the organisers with logistical challenges that they may not overcome this season.
“After thorough evaluation and deliberations, Mascom regrets to inform all stakeholders that we will not be hosting this year’s edition of the Mascom Top 8,” the company said in a statement.
“This is as an outcome of the challenges to our business fundamentals, due in large part to the current socio-economic climate which has resulted in financial constraints and not allowed us to commit the resources necessary for a successful delivery of the Mascom Top 8.”
A big miss
The eight-team cup competition was first introduced in 2012. For nearly a decade the competition has served the football public with memorable matches and moments.
Because there was no Challenge Cup (FA Cup) in Botswana at the time, Mascom Top 8 was Botswana’s premier cup competition that determined the country’s annual CAF Confederation Cup participants.