Botswana Premier League chief executive officer (CEO), Solomon Ramochotlhwane hailed first round a success. He observed that though the league was played after long suspension of sport activities the league went on smoothly.
“The first round went well as planned and though Covid-19 brought some challenges they were cooperative” observed Ramochotlhwane. “When the league started many were not sure whether it will finish because Covid-19 was and still a threat to League and other activities. Also there were those who were not sure that the clubs will manage and adhere to the new demands that were brought by Covid-19.”
He noted that Covid-19 brought more financial burden to the teams but nonetheless the teams made sure to adhere to Covid-19 protocols.
“At first some teams did not understand what they were expected to do in terms of protocols but they were assisted to do the needful. They all complied and we are happy and encourage them to continue doing the right things,” said Solly.
The CEO explained that they had initially planned to have two weeks break after first round but they could not because the schedule is connected. He explained that they had to cater for Orange FA cup and in some instances some teams had positive cases hence the schedule was distributed.
The second round is planned to start on Thursday. “We are starting early because we had to cater for Jwaneng Galaxy because it will be competing in the continental CAF Champions League competition.”
Ramochotlhwane further noticed that the supporters came in numbers to rally behind their teams.
“The attendance in some games is above average and there were few games where a record number of supporters attended the matches. I also think that in some instances supporters could not attended because they feared crowded places to avoid contracting Covid. I can only encourage those teams that are lacking behind in attracting supporters to look in to their marketing strategies to attract more supporters,” he advised.
Still with the league, BPL CEO said they are planning to have prize monies at the end of the season. “We are planning to have the winner of the league to walk away with P1 million. The others will also have prize money once the plan is hatched” he explained the league plans. In the previous season the league did not have prize money and the priceless league attracted negative opinions from the supporters and football administrators. The prize money is vital to the teams because it helps them to pay salaries and also to settle bills from service providers.
