‘Tse di tona!’ ‘Re ja 1 metre.’ ‘Dzodusa.’ For nine seasons, Mascom Top 8 gave Botswana football memorable moments. On and off the field of play, the tournament set a bar high for local football.
From catchy slogans, shrewd marketing and incomparable fan engagement, the tournament reshaped the local football landscape. And when curtains finally came down on the tournament after nine seasons, football was left the poorer without it.
For six years post the last Top 8 tournament, no one stood up to fill the void left by Mascom Top 8. The once prestigious tournament seemed dead and buried. But as the acting Botswana Football League Chief Executive Officer (BFL CEO) Idah Moinisi put it, ‘great sporting traditions do not just disappear. They simply wait for the right moment to return.’
Now enters African Hero, a new hero ready to take the mantle. And this is ‘not merely the revival of a football competition.’ ‘It represents the return of a prestigious national property.’
‘It is the restoration of a proud football tradition. The return of the most prestigious competition in our domestic game, and the beginning of a new chapter in the Botswana football,’ the acting BFL CEO says.
While taking over where the previous sponsor long left, African Hero has set its eyes on writing a new chapter in the well storied Top 8 tournament. ‘The Top 8 tournament has a proud history in Botswana, and the return is a chance to write a new chapter.’
‘We want this tournament to be something that fans look forward to. Something that players want to win. Something that helps Botswana football to keep growing,’ African Hero CEO Akash Singh declares.
With a team expected to play just three games to win the coveted P1 500 000 prize monies, the tournament now stands apart as the most profitable for participants. As for clubs who do not win the ultimate prize, the returns are also as salivating. Runners-up are set to get a P750 000 cheque. The two teams which get knocked out in the semi-finals walk away with P200 000 each, after a mere two games, while those who are eliminated in the first match get a P100 000 consolation cheque.
Elsewhere, there will be eye catching cash prizes for Player of the Tournament, Coach of the Tournament, Goalkeeper of the Tournament, Young Player of the Tournament, Referee of the Tournament, Assistant Referee of the Tournament and most importantly, the Supporter of the Tournament.
With regards to who will take part in the first edition of the African Hero sponsored Top 8 tournament, the sponsors could have not asked for better teams. Township Rollers, Gaborone United, Orapa United and Jwaneng Galaxy are in the hat. Between them, the four account for winning eight (8) of the nine (9) titles.
For each of these four teams, African Hero Top 8 provides an opportunity to stand apart as the teams with most Top 8 titles. And for all eight participating teams, they stand a chance to engrave their name as the first ever African Hero Top 8 champion.
‘The Top 8 has a special place in Botswana football, for many reasons. This competition gives supporters an additional opportunity to watch the country’s best teams play against one another in a highly competitive environment,’ BFL Board Chairman Sipho Showa says.
For Showa, the BFL and local football in general, the launch of the African Top 8 tournament ‘represents more than the unveiling of just another football tournament.’ ‘It represents the continued growth of our premier league, the strengthening of our commercial football eco-system, and our collective commitment to giving our clubs and players more opportunity to compete, perform and entertain.’
When officially launching the tournament this past Friday, the Minister of Sport and Arts, Jacob Kelebeng challenged clubs participating in the African Hero Top 8 ‘to use the tournament to raise their standards.’
The tournament is scheduled to kick off this month, on the 23rd of October 2026. It will see Gaborone United take on Nico United in Gaborone, Sua Flamingoes face Orapa United in Sua and Mochudi Centre Chiefs battle it out against Morupule Wanderers. The pick of the games however will be the clash between the tournament’s two times champions Jwaneng Galaxy and Township Rollers.
Other partners in the tournament are Botswana Telecommunications as Official Connectivity partner, Umbro as the Technical Sponsor, Botswana Television as the Broadcast partner and Cresta Lodge as the accommodation partner as well as the Botswana National Sports Commission.