10 Apr 2024

Botswana Premier League outfit, Gaborone United (GU), has received a shot in the arm in the form of a P1.5 million sponsorship from Tredinnick Botswana over three years.

According to the deal, GU will receive P500 000  per season and that the Tredinnick Botswana logo will appear on the sleeve of the red and white GU kit, including the ladies and youth teams.

Speaking at the sponsorship launch on Tuesday, Tredinnick Botswana director, Joe Lalonde said they believed the future of Botswana football was in the youth.

He said they had been looking at ways to support the youth and that the partnership with the ‘Money machine’ as GU is fondly known by its supporters is part of their corporate social responsibility.

He said they believed GU would help them deliver on their vision of empowering the youth to achieve their best.

Botswana Football Association (BFA) president, Maclean Letshwiti said the sponsorship would go a long way to push their agenda of commercialising and professionalising football.

He said they had made a lot of strides towards commercialising and professionalising football, but that a lot more still needed to be done. He added that development among football clubs was uneven, as some clubs were quick to realise that commercialisation and professionalisation were for their own good and ultimately for their long-term survival.

Letshwiti said it was only when clubs turned commercial and professional that they would become viable and sustainable.

“It is only when our football becomes commercial and professional that it will become more attractive to  sponsors and there is no shortcut,” he said.

He added that football clubs needed to attract more sponsors for them to become financially viable. Sustainability, he said, was important for the development of football, adding that for that to happen, football clubs needed to conduct themselves in a more professional way.

“They need to hold annual general meetings, they need to abide by their constitutions, they need to keep records of their meeting and there has to be proper book keeping,” he said.

Gaborone United director, Nicholas Zakhem, thanked Tredinnick Botswana for partnering with his club.

He urged players to put their best foot forward for their team, saying loosing and drawing were not good for the famous club. ENDS