Leading cellular company, Mascom Wireless was unveiled as the new sponsors for the Top Eight football tournament. The announcement was made on Wednesday morning at Lekidi Football Centre in Gaborone. The cellular company will fork out P7m over the period of two years for the tournament with an option one year renewal.
The tournament will feature top eight teams at the end of the 2010/2011 Premier League season namely, Township Rollers, Mochudi Centre Chiefs, Gaborone United, ECCO City Greens, BDF XI, Flamengo Santos, Nico United and BMC.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mascom chief executive officer Jose Couceiro said his company is proud to be associated with Botswana Premier League again. Mascom first sponsored the country’s top flight in 2005 to the tune of P4.5m over a period of three years. “We’re proud to be associated with Botswana football, we’re proud to have set a trend in Botswana football with sponsorship. Since our involvement in 2005, Botswana football has never been the same again,” said Mascom boss. When he revealed that the champions for the tournament will walk away with P1m, he was met by a huge round of applause.
Accepting the sponsorship, Premier League chairperson Mike Molefe assured Mascom that they will deliver on their contractual obligations. He said that the Mascom’s sponsorship will create a lot of competition amongst Premier League sides. The last time there was a top eight competition was 1992 when the tournament was won by TASC.
The prize breakdown is as follows; Champions-P1m, Runners up- P400 000, losing semifinalists will get P200 000 each while those knocked out in the first round will be compensated with P125 000. According to the organisers there will be lots at stake in the competition.
