| Botswana too late to attract World Cup bound teams? |
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| Written by DUNCAN KGANGKENNA | |||
| Wednesday, 17 March 2010 00:00 | |||
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Consultancy advised that infrastructure be upgraded
The Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, Shaw Kgathi has revealed that upon advice from British consultants Botswana embarked on an ambitious programme to upgrade its infrastructure to attract countries coming for the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa.
Addressing a press conference in Gaborone on Monday, Kgathi said that as a first step, the government set up a task force in 2006 to develop and roll out a strategy for attracting teams that qualified for the finals of the 2010 World Cup to use Botswana as a training base.
Initially, he said, the thinking was to get teams to set up base in Botswana even during the World Cup finals but this was abandoned when it was realised that teams would be required to camp in South Africa during the World Cup. Subsequently, “the strategy was to get teams to set up pre-tournament bases in Botswana”.
The minister explained that they engaged Alexander Ross, a consultancy firm in the United Kingdom (UK), to “develop a strategy document for Botswana towards hosting international football teams during the 2010 FIFA World Cup”.
He said the consultancy advised them that the country could host two teams that will be coming to South Africa for acclimatisation before the tournament commences. He said the two teams that could have been hosted by Botswana were going to use the UB and SSKB grounds.
He further explained that the consultancy advised them that facilities needed to undergo a major facelift to bring them to acceptable international standards. For Botswana to host the World Cup teams, they recommended, it was supposed to have an international airport capable of handling large aircraft; ability to process "tarmac" transfers; sufficient supply of international standard first class accommodation; a supply of hotel accommodation for the travelling media; international standard playing surface; minimum travelling distances between airport, hotels, training and other venues and a hospital with acceptable medical services.
Kgathi said to meet the set standards the government decided to upgrade the UB, SSKB and National stadiums and upgrade the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport with a new runway and new terminal building. The hotel accommodation was deemed adequate and of the required standard. On the stadia projects lagging behind the minister said they are also concerned but they have got nothing to do as they don’t have total control over the projects. Apart from football Kgathi told the gathering that despite the fact that currently there is no team that they have convinced to camp here the hospitality and tourism sectors will benefit from the World Cup spin-offs. “Botswana is positioned strategically due to its proximity to some of the South African provinces: Limpopo, Northwest and Gauteng than any other country in the region. Initially, our strategy was focused on lobbying various football teams to camp in the country, thus the only strategic option that we have is to position Botswana as alternative destination for accommodation, transport and tourism facilities,” the minister said. But at question time, Kgathi could not answer the questions from journalists who wanted to know how much was paid to Alexander Ross and whether there was any tender to engage the UK consultants.
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