The national flag has never been raised at the medal ceremony of any major international competition: sport and development in Botswana

Abstract

The Botswana flag had never been raised nor had its national anthem been heard at the medal ceremonies of any major international sports competition prior to the 2004 Paralympic Games. The aim of this paper is to analyse critically problems of sports development in developing countries taking Botswana, Africa as an example. This paper is based on material collected from a number of documents on sport in developing countries, newspapers and material from the Internet. E-mail correspondence was exchanged with a number of sports officials from Botswana. Interviews were conducted in Botswana with key officials involved with the development and administration of sport, and a Botswana international athlete who was resident in the United Kingdom. The results of the research showed that Botswana has made great strides in the administration and organization of sport since independence, but the economic advances that have been made are being threatened by the HIV/AIDS pandemic that has become the most devastating emergency in the nation’s history.