However, this week, the BNSC accepted BONA's proposal after a P300,000 sponsorship from Okavango Diamond Company (ODC) towards the event. BONA public relations officer, Mokeresete Mokeresete told MmegiSport that it has been a long journey of negotiations which started in August.
“Africa Netball (AN) showed confidence in us as an association and this country that we can host its top event. That was a motivating factor but we knew that we did not have funds because the budget was not done at the same time. We knew that when it came to issues of bidding, we needed two years to do the bid.
The BNSC hosting policy requires that to host a continental championship, there is a provided time frame, which is two years,” he said. Mokeresete said they informed Africa Netball that BONA could not afford to host the championships because of the time frame and financial constraints.
He said now that the BNSC has given the event the green light, it is heartening. He said they are excited by the assistance from ODC and other private companies that have promised to come on board. When asked about the hosting policy and if the commission was setting bad precedence that it could be sidestepped, the BNSC director-sport development, Peaceful Seleka said there was room for compromise. “Not really, in the hosting policy there is provision for a waiver provided the National Sport Associations (NSA) would have demonstrated that they have enough resources that allow them to host without the risk of putting sport and the country into disrepute. We have done that with cricket, table tennis and others,” he said. Seleka said the aim of the policy is not to punish the NSA but to guide them so that they will not host substandard competitions. “When we give a waiver it is not only the funding that we consider, there are other factors,” Seleka added.
The Africa Netball Cup is scheduled for November 26 to December 6. Seleka said Africa Netball would cover the costs towards the officials’ upkeep and the Annual General Meeting (AGM) that will take place during the tournament. The University of Botswana (UB) Indoor Sport Arena has been identified as the venue for the event. It will be the first time that there is a men’s competition in the Africa Cup. “We are excited to be the first country to host the men’s competition. On the women’s side, it is the first time that we are hosting Africa Cup.
We have only hosted the Africa Netball World Cup qualifiers,” he said. Mokeresete said if things go according to plan, the team would go into a training camp on Monday. The men’s team head coach is Boipelo Makwatse while Neo Ntwayagae will handle the women’s side. In the women's section Burundi, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Botswana will battle it out. Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe will play in the men's section.
