26 Mar 2014

Sports is an economic sector and its participants should package themselves well for the corporate world, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dorcus Makgatho Malesu, said on March 24.

“The sector is important because it deals with the youth and creation of industries and employment at youth level will grow,” she said during the launch of the FIFA administration and management course at Lekidi Football Centre.

Makgatho-Malesu said administration was crucial in delivery and the course was therefore expected to prepare participants for greater things in life. She said it was important for women to be involved in the sector as administrators. She encouraged the Botswana Football Association to include women in its ranks.

She said the FIFA administration course showed that implementation of projects and programmes was taking place. “If the sector is professional, there is no how the corporate world cannot recognise the worth,” she said.

She said sport faced serious circumstances, which called upon administration to stand the test of time. She cited South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs as one of the well managed football clubs in the region and believed that Botswana football could also reach that level.

Tebogo Sebego, the president of BFA, said the focus was to commercialise football and the course was one of the steps towards that goal. “The foundation of success of the institution relies on the administration,” he said.

The five-day course started on Monday March 24. The instructor is Justus Mugisha of Uganda, who was sent by FIFA on request by the BFA.

Mugisha said the course would cover FIFA programmes, its arrangement with BFA, general management issues, member association, marketing, communication and event management, among others.

He promised participants that after the course, they would be participants who know what to do. Participants who do well would be recommended to FIFA for further training. “We will use the power of football to develop the world,” the Ugandan said.Ends