15 Aug 2016

Botswana Football Association (BFA) reported a deficit spending of P10.6 million in 2015/16, according to the audited financial report presented at the general assembly held at Tlotlo Hotel recently.

This was in contrast to a small surplus of half a million Pula reported at last year’s general assembly.

The financial report presented by BFA vice president responsible for finance, marketing and research, Pelotshweu Motlogelwa, indicated an expenditure of P32.5 million against a  revenue of P21.9 million in 2015/16.

Motlogelwa stated that revenue declined by approximately P5 million from P27.2 million in 2014/15, while expenditure rose by approximately P8 million compared to 2014/15.

He said the association failed to do well in terms of income after losing two senior national team sponsorships from Banc ABC and Orange. He further said the decline in income was due to the association receiving less money from television rights and FIFA grants compared to the previous year. However, Motlogelwa said the grant from the Botswana National Sports Commission increased to P8.4 million.

In terms of expenditure, he said the national teams’ activities took away the chunk of BFA money, especially after the Zebras lost two sponsorships. “The association had to fund the teams somehow to participate in international competitions,” Motlogelwa said.

The Zebras played in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, the 2020 World Cup preliminaries and the COSAFA Senior Championships amongst others. The junior teams and ladies team also played in continental qualifiers during the period under review.

Motlogelwa further said working capital at the association increased to P2 million, while increased salaries and tax penalties also contributed to increase of expenditure. He said the BFA auditors, Price Waterhouse Coopers, have expressed an unqualified opinion on the financial statement.

Meanwhile, the assembly has approved a total budget expenditure of P46.2 million for the 2016/17 financial year, which will cover operations, purchase of new fleet for the association, purchase of equipment for regions, and national teams’ activities among other things.

The association has projected total revenue of P44.96 million, which means a deficit spending of around P1 million is being forecasted this time around. ENDS