Let me address a few questionsthat seem to bother a numberof people. Ernest Moilwa ofMorwa wants to know why ExtensionGunners is not on the Choppiessponsorship. I do not know butyou are not the fi rst and only personasking that. Choppies is a Lobatsebrand but remember the owners ofChoppies may not see it that way asthey have since gone national, andeven beyond Botswana. Personally,I don’t think Gunners have an inherentright to Choppies as a sponsor.So my advice to Gunners is thatthey should look beyond Choppies.Supersport United have just got amulti- million sponsor in Engen, aCape Town headquartered company!It is business and nothing else.Morongwa Maine of Mochudiseeks to know why Notwane FCwent all the way to Brazil for aTechnical Director.
I don’t knowwhy, I do not know him either. Butit could be that he has a special skillthat locals do not possess. It couldbe that the new club owner GiftMogapi trusts his judgment and hisexperience. Besides Losika Keatlholetswe,Sexton Kowa and SonnyboySethibe, I do not know of anylocal who has such experience andexpertise; perhaps he should havelooked at them.Michael Ramosweu of Francistownwants to know why localcommentators broadcast matches inSetswana only. I have argued overthe years that the reason why manyBatswana don’t watch BTV is becauseBTV is not attractive. I haveoften said Soweto TV and CapeTown TV are way better. How onearth does a national TV abhor anoffi cial language? I had suggestedthat we broadcast matches in bothEnglish and Setswana because footballconsumers include scouts, clubowners and agents who are basedoutside the country and who do noteven understand Setswana. Wewant to market and sell the likesof Michael Pepukani and ThabisoKhunwane to international audiencesand viewers who do not understandSetswana.
Enoch Potsane of Kanye wantsto know why Botswana PremierLeague has chosen Mike Molefeas chairperson again. I believe heis good, he understands both footballand business therefore I believethat is what they looked at. I thinkwe need a strong chairperson whocan make decisions for football, nomatter how unpopular he becomes.Football needs strong people becausewe have 2 million coachesin Botswana. I want to believeMike Molefe will become a strongerchairperson with an ambitionto make sure all the clubs are privatizedincluding institutional teamssuch as BDF. It is important that webecome part of the global set up, andintegrate into world football at professionallevel.Salome Mooketsi is worriedabout big salaries reaching P20, 000and sign on fees of P100,000 thatare bandied about in our league.Come on Salome, these boys areworking. They are in informal employmentlike anyone else, thereforethey must be paid what is dueto them and they must therefore paytax.
Football is their skill; they needto feed their families. We do notcare how much they are paid nowbecause people have taken the clubsfrom us the fans, they must pay theboys or leave the business of football.Erica Mapai says Tafi c is in awar. I say I expected it, but it is upto the supporters of the club wherethey want to take Tafi c. If they stillwant to choose committees in communityhalls and run such a bigclub like a kiosk, it is cool theywill relegate. They have ignoredthe Josh family who own Nortexwho could save them. I have saidlet us all make this professionalismdream a reality; football has failedto honor Sam Sono, he crafted thisprofessionalism anthem way backwhen I was at Junior High School.He pioneered it, if we can’t achievehis goal then we do not have any respectfor our ancestors, for our legends.We are a lost nation which ishugely misguided.
Sono preachedthis ideal in 1997 or so, when FCSATMOS became a huge successfulprivate entity. Under Sono then, FCSATMOS looked much better thanmany teams today. I am not takinganything from China Mading he hasdone a great job in keeping the legacy,and sustaining that dream.Lastly, Mosetsanagape Mokalasays she doesn’t believe that theseclub owners are genuine in theirpurchase of clubs, suspects they aredoing illicit business to hide profi ts.I say that is not for us to fi nd out.My interest is in these club ownerspaying players, paying tax, packingstadia, developing talent, growingthe Zebras pool of players, makingBotswana a respectable nation offootball.