26 Oct 2015

A South African construction and transport company, Slim Holdings has breathed life into Gaborone based team, Gilport Lions.

The firm has sponsored the team with P6 million to be spent over three years.

Formerly known as BMC, Lions has been struggling in the elite league since the Ghodratti family handed it over to Kelesitse Gilika, with players going for months unpaid.

With the sponsorship, which will see the team spending P2 million per season, the club’s woes seem set to end.

During the sponsorship launch on Thursday October 22, the club’s executive chairperson, Gilika said Gilport Lions is a registered company and will not hold elections.

He said they will continue to use their three colours, adding that their orange home kit was inspired by the Holland national team. He explained that the purple in their away kit was chosen by his daughters. 

He said the pink alternative kit was meant to promote awareness about cancer.

Gilika said his club has pledged to donate the proceeds of all games they play using the pink kit to the Cancer Association of Botswana.

Slim Holdings manager, Yanda Letang said the managing director of her company, Mike Slim, has always been passionate about youth and sport development, which explains their decision to sponsor the team. 

She said Lions’ proposal was hard to resist. 

He said they saw it as a valuable project with particular emphasis on the development of the boy child.

“I am reliably informed that this is the biggest club sponsorship in the Botswana Premier League. All I can say is that it’s a total new game, and Botswana football will never be the same again,” she said.

Furthermore, Letang said Gilport Lions’ players performance has not gone unnoticed. 

National team coach, Peter Butler said for Gilport to have acquired such sponsorship was a step in the right direction especially that they have been regarded as a small team. ENDS