22 Nov 2016

The Assistant Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Cultural Development, Mr Kefentse Mzwinila says the Income Tax Act Chapter  52:01 Section 51 provides for tax rebates geared towards motivating private companies to support sport in general, not only football.

He further said football in Botswana was semi-professional and that the journey to professionalism was on-going, though a long process. He explained that most premier league and first division teams had players and coaches on paid contracts, which was one of the requirements for professionalism.

He noted that club licensing as required by the confederation of African Football was on-going. The minister explained that teams were also expected to set up club offices with full time secretariat as well as development structures and emphasised that the main challenge is financial constraints for teams due to limited funding or sponsorship for football.

Minister Mzwinila was responding to question asked by Member of Parliament for Gaborone North, Mr Haskins Nkaigwa who wanted to know if there are incentives in place to encourage private investment in the development of football and when football will turn professional. BOPA