Tshepo Molwane
6 July 2009
Botswana Football Association (BFA) president David Fani has praised Kgalagadi Beverages Limited (KBL) for its continued commitment to the development of football at the grassroots level through its Coca-Cola brand.
Fani was speaking on Thursday during the launch of the Copa Coca-Cola/BISA Games in Gaborone. The tournament been known as Coca-Cola/BISA Cup until it was revamped and renamed Copa Coca-Cola/BISA Games. KBL has been financing Botswana Integrated Sports Association (BISA) for over 20 years with sponsorship rising from P20,000 to P250,000. The Copa Coca-Cola/BISA Games is a football festival featuring secondary schools in both boys and girls' categories.
Speaking to Monitor Sport after the launch, Fani said: "From a football context, this is a very useful competition. The tournament is helping us in our efforts to develop football at grassroots level. One hopes our clubs will show interest to attend BISA matches and see the talent on display." The BFA president commended all the stakeholders for the initiative and said that there is no doubt about the contribution of the Coca-Cola/BISA tournament to local football. He said the fact that the tournament has produced a number of stars shows that it is achieving its desired results.
Coca-Cola central Africa brand activation manager, Christine Forster said they have revamped the schools' competition to go with the global competitions. She said that since their partnership with FIFA in 1974, Coca-Cola has made an immense contribution to the development of football throughout the world. She stated that the COPA Coca-Cola tournaments have produced world stars like Ronaldinho of Brazil. "Football has always been part of Coca-Cola DNA and it is the game which always bring people together. Our commitment to youth development is on a global level and we see this as a chance for the youth to show their potential," she said. Forster added that her company wants to have a positive impact on the lives of youngsters.
BISA secretary-general, Benjamin Seema said that their organisation appreciates the support it has been getting from Coca-Cola over the years. "I hope that the partnership will grow to greater heights. BISA/Coca-Cola has produced a number of stars like Daniel 'Chicco' Nare, Dipsy Selolwane and Masego Ntshingane who have since become household names," he said. Seema pointed out that because of the sponsorship from Coca-Cola, coaches always want their schools to impress. He added that different schools want to impress and reach the national finals so that they can be given Coca-Cola branded kits.
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