Traditionally, the local season should run between August and May calendar, but in recent times there have been delayed starts. The 2019-2020 was the last campaign to start in August but was disrupted by the outbreak of COVID-19. As a result of the outbreak, the BPL has struggled to recover as the 2020-2021 season was cancelled.
The local football fans were put on a long wait as the league football only returned in 2021. However, the 2021-2022 season started three months later than the scheduled kick-off, with action only beginning in late October.
The just-ended season also had a delayed start and could only kick off on the last weekend of October. The Botswana Football League (BFL) CEO, Senzo Mbatha suggests that the start of the 2023-2024 league will be much earlier. Mbatha told Mmegi Sport this week that the league season could start in September and that depends on how soon the BFL concludes talks with potential sponsors and partners. He further said for the first time in three seasons, the 2023-2024 season could have a title sponsor.
League authorities have struggled to secure a title sponsor for the elite league since the departure of telecommunications giant, the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) in 2019. “I expect to start the league as early as possible around September, depending on how early the sponsorships and other related variables are confirmed. We expect to have at least a title sponsors to run the Premier League. I also expect to have confirmed other important commercial partners in the coming season.
Our situation in Botswana is unique; we should work with what we have. The league will be announcing its fixtures in due course. The BFL has its unique challenges and as such we should not rush into providing league fixtures without having ticked all the boxes,” Mbatha said. He also said behind the scenes, the BFL is preparing for the start of the next campaign.
Mbatha said there is a positive response to the BFL's hunt for a title sponsor as he also said clubs have been given prize money from the BFL operational savings. Clubs have also been drilled on professional conduct to align with the improved competition rules and regulations. “We are introducing marketing and media manuals to ensure that we can offer our potential sponsors value through standardised operational models across all our clubs. These are all the things that we have been engaging in and we have done presentations and had meetings with the potential sponsors. Now we keep nudging and using any available influence to land a sponsor.
I can confirm that there has been an interest in partnering with the league and we remain hopeful that we will make an announcement soon,” Mbatha said. Clubs have since returned for pre-season training with Gaborone giants, Township Rollers and Gaborone United (GU) being the busiest. GU played Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United in South Africa last weekend as they kicked off their pre-season. Rollers on the other hand are to play Kaizer Chiefs and African Stars of Namibia in the next two weeks.
