05 Jul 2023

Four women’s teams will battle it out in the DTCB women’s football tournament scheduled for Lekidi on Saturday.

The defending champions Double Action will face Nhabe region side, Western Dynamite while Gaborone United will take on Selibe Phikwe side Granada FC on the same day.

The teams were seeded during the semi-final draw conducted at Lekidi on Tuesday.

The semifinal losers and winners will then proceed to play at the National Stadium on the same day.

Speaking at the draw, DTCB corporate affairs manager MacDonald Motsele said their partnership with Botswana Football Association (BFA) was mainly to bring the marginalised group of women to professional football.

Motsele said the Saturday games were about understanding and appreciating women’s football, adding that referees and ball girls would be done strictly by women.

Like BFA, he said their dream at DTCB was to see The Mares competing at the World Cup, adding that the DTCB championship was a building block, given that they had structures which comprised of grassroots festival which were taking place throughout Botswana.

Motsele said there was no doubt that the grassroots would then feed the senior teams and some of them would make it to the DTCB women’s football championship in future.

“So I think now it is all about perseverance and actually going for that vision, not only as a team but as a nation in ensuring that in 2035 our women’s national team is at the World Cup in 2035,” he said.

BFA chief executive officer Mfolo Mfolo said there was a need to give a girl-child an opportunity to play football throughout the country.

He said it was therefore imperative that the National Women’s Football committee to undertake the challenge in ensuring that women football was played in all the 17 regions. ENDS