Botswana’s six athletes carry the weight of a country’s rising sprint tradition into the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship. The Diamond League circuit has run its course. The season’s familiar rhythm – Shanghai to Lausanne, Rabat to Rome, Stockholm to Brussels – has delivered its final times and its final standings. And now, for the first time, the track and field season will not simply end. It will resolve. The World Athletics Ultimate Championship, a...

In the labyrinthine world of African football, where allegiances shift like desert sands and ambition courses through veins richer than any gold vein beneath the Kalahari, a captivating drama is unfolding, one that has set the grapevine ablaze from Gaborone to Johannesburg.

When Tonota FC secured promotion to the FNB Premiership, the instinct might have been to pop the champagne and call it a season well lived. Instead, the club went shopping; not for survival tools, but for the kind of financial muscle that turns newcomers into contenders. The result: sponsorship commitments worth P3.3 million, a war chest that has transformed Tonota from plucky upstarts into the most intriguing story of the forthcoming campaign. The windfall is...

The idea sounds almost improbable at first hearing: Botswana, the landlocked southern African nation celebrated for its diamond mines and vast wildlife reserves, wants to become a basketball destination. Yet the evidence of intent is now unmistakable. Late last month, officials gathered here to announce the Ballin N Da Bush Safari Classic, a three-day international basketball tournament offering a $100,000 prize purse, roughly 1.3 million pula, that places it among the most lucrative events of...

For months, the Botswana Football League seemed stuck in its own half; unable to move forward, unwilling to confront the dysfunction in its boardroom, and offering players, coaches and supporters nothing but silence about when, or even whether, a new season would begin. On Friday, Aug. 28, the waiting ends. The BFL on Monday released its official fixture list for the 2026/27 FNB Premiership campaign, clearing the way for the country’s top-flight football to resume...

For years, the detour was as costly as it was absurd. Whenever Botswana’s national teams or top clubs drew a home fixture in continental competition, the match could not be played at home;  not in the capital, not at the National Stadium. Instead, the entire operation; players, officials, security details, visiting delegations – was bundled 465 kilometres north to Francistown, to a modest arena named Obed Itani Chilume Stadium, the only venue in the country...

Township Rollers are experiencing a surge in commercial success, securing a series of lucrative partnerships that promise to bolster the club’s financial standing ahead of the 2026/27 season. The 16-time league champions have aggressively expanded their commercial portfolio, landing deals with Bet267, Italian sportswear giant Diadora, and retail chain Options, while also unveiling a new Motswana-owned front-shirt sponsor. This marks a significant turnaround for a club that has weathered financial difficulties in recent years, including...

CAF inspection boosts chances of the venue hosting international football BFA aims for Category Three status ahead of Botswana’s 2028 AFCON bid Approval would ease the pressure on Francistown’s only certified stadium The long-awaited return of international football to the National Stadium may be closer than ever. This week, CAF inspectors visited Gaborone for a fresh evaluation of the National Stadium and the Lobatse Sports Complex. Their inspection has reignited hopes that the National Stadium...

Babitseng signals possible decisive action after NEC consultations BFA awaits acting CEO’s report before deciding next steps The Botswana Football Association (BFA) has finally spoken out about the growing crisis engulfing the Botswana Football League (BFL). BFA president Oabile Tariq Babitseng didn’t hold back his disappointment with the league’s leadership and shareholders. Babitseng made it clear that the association is deeply troubled by what’s unfolding within the country’s top football administration. He warned that once...