- Weekend nil-all draw with Calendar Stars a significant step
- Tafic PRO: “Tafic belongs in the premier league”
GAZETTE REPORTER
Francistown-based Tafic football club has taken a giant step in the First Division North towards securing a return to the elite Botswana Premier League after nearly eight years out of Botswana’s top flight football.
Only five matches remain for the Pride of Sthalala in the Debswana First Division North league.
Tafic, who are in pole position with 37 points, extended their lead at the top of the league over the weekend after a nil-all draw in a derby with local rivals, Calendar Stars.
Touching distance
Tafic’s Marketing and Public Relations Officer, Kabelo Dipholo, has told Gazette Sports that even though it may be early for them to blow their trumpet, a return to the premier league is within touching distance, adding that no one would have given them a chance at the start of the campaign because they came in on the back of relegation playoffs.
“When the team succeeded in terms of keeping their First Division status, we moved swiftly to privatise the club because we realised that being financially stable would be critical to competing as a team,” he said.
Players inspired
Dipholo emphasised how the privatisation of the team has inspired the players, witness the good performance of Tafic on the pitch.
“Players do not have to worry about their welfare because it is taken care of,” he said. “They continue to receive their salaries at the agreed time and their focus is on the playing field.”
He disclosed that club management introduced winning bonuses in players’ contracts in order to give them an extra boost.
“Our football fans should be happy that we have a passionate, youthful and vibrant chairman who wants to see this team progress to the elite league and solidify their status,” Dipholo said.
Financial stability
The previous committee had devised a three-year strategy whose plan was to stabilise Tafic in the first year, compete to gain promotion in the second year, and cement the team’s premier league status in the third year.
“We have seen what the premier league needs in order to for a team to solidify its status there,” said Dipholo. “Tafic belongs in the premier league and we will do everything to stay there once we are promoted.”