BONGANI MALUNGA
The Botswana Football League (BFL) has revealed that there is no set date for the return of local league football as they are close to concluding talks with the potential sponsor. Speaking at a recent press conference, BFL Chief Executive Officer Solomon Ramochotlhwane explained that they have not decided on the return date as they are also working on announcing a new title sponsor for the league.
Local league football was halted during the second round of the previous season (2019/2020) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The long wait was worsened by the ban on competitive sport to keep the spread of the disease in control. The 2020/2021 was then declared null and void by the Botswana Football Association National Executive Committee in March as the resumption would have caused a fixture pile up in a limited space of time.
In recent weeks the Minister of Youth Sport and Culture Tumiso Rakgare announced the return of competitive sport. With football cleared to return the BFL was widely tipped to fast-track plans to commence local league football, however, they have adopted a cautious approach as they are nearing a new league sponsorship deal.
Ramochotlhwane hinted that they will announce a date for the return of league football when they announce the new sponsor of the local football league. He stated that they are “working around the clock” to overcome logistical challenges with a title sponsor set to be announced at the end of July.