‘The last kick had decided the penalty shootout in the African Cup of nations final in 2012 at the Stade D’aminitee in Libreville, Gabon. At last, the game between overwhelming favourites, Ivory Coast, and Zambia was over.
“As Kalusha Bwalya, the President of the Football Association of Zambia, hoisted the AFCON trophy, as if to present it to his team mates, somewhere above, who had died off the Coast of Gabon in 1993 when an air crash had wiped out almost the entire Zambia national team, it dawned on me that history was being made.
“More importantly, the historic AFCON 2012, where the Botswana Zebras had made their debut, had just ended. Although it was midnight, I allowed myself the luxury of looking back and feeling a great sense of satisfaction that, perhaps, the modest contribution that I had made to Botswana had indeed paid off, even if the Zebras had made an early exit from the competition.”
This is a peek into the mind of Ashford Mamelodi as he reels off events slated to appear in his forthcoming book ÔÇô a chronicle of his stellar, and some tempestuous, if not at times controversial road in football administration.
Like many who hold a passion for local football, Mamelodi is unequivocal that Botswana’s football is currently in a sorry state.
The finishing strokes to this first part of a two-part series on the Botswana Football Association (BFA)’s first chief executive officer fall into place some 48 hours after Mamelodi has returned from a three-week sojourn to east Africa.
As the current FIFA Development Officer for east and southern Africa, Mamelodi’s travel itinerary is a log jam. An extended interview with him is an undertaking almost as elusive as chasing a shadow.
Yet it is on a slow Tuesday afternoon some weeks prior that he gives his thoughts on his journey in football administration and on the current state of the local, regional and international football administration.
If he is anything, Mamelodi is probably without peers ÔÇô the first CEO of the BFA, the only Motswana to hold the positions of COSAFA Secretary General and now, FIFA Development officer.
It is no surprise that his knowledge of football is encyclopedic.
Leaning his considerable frame back, he speaks unabashedly about his role in the trail blazing era that saw the new dawn in Botswana’s football development.
The office of FIFA Development Officer for east and southern Africa is a far cry from the rickety start in administration at Black Peril Football Club, after he had played for the side in his coveted centre forward position.
“I was immediately pushed into management even whilst a player at Black Peril FC, serving in positions of Secretary and Treasurer and at one stage doing both,” he says.
Even more strikingly, it is far removed from the toils involved in charting a road map that would see Botswana’s first football development plan.
On this quiet Tuesday, he speaks at once passionately and modestly about the “quantum leap” in Botswana’s football development that saw the engagement of Ghana’s Ben Koufie to chart a strategic direction for Botswana’s football development.
“It marked a new milestone in football in Botswana,” he says of the years that saw the first football development blueprint.
As he speaks, it is at once noticeable that Mamelodi’s office looks almost a shrine to his get-up-and-go lifestyle as FIFA Development Officer. One wall is lined with travel bags.
“The engagement of Koufie was one key area,” he says.
Another, he adds, was the transformation of Botswana football from basically non-international competition to international competition.
“It was very important that we took that quantum leap because if we hadn’t we would not have had an experience to build from,” he says.
Yet another milestone he points to was spreading of the gospel of football to parts of the country where non-organised football existed ÔÇô places like Kgalagadi, Chobe and Gabe and the Maun area.
“The Ben Koufie era introduced us into competitive football and the importance of development of football,” Mamelodi says. “We started developing football, starting looking at important basics of the game and we have seen a lot of players come out of the system and generally develop into very good players.”
When Joe Orebotse left the BFA to join the Sports Council as its chairman in 1989, Mamelodi was asked to act as Secretary General. At the time, the position was not full time. In July 1993 he signed his first contract as the first CEO of the BFA and would serve the association until November 2000.
“The office developed very slowly because at that time we didn’t have the grants that FIFA gives to associations of $250,000 a year. Then you were at the mercy of what the Sports Council gave you every year.”
At the time of his taking office as Secretary General, he was running his own company in Francistown, Thabo Management Services (Pty) Limited that dealt largely with company secretarial matters including Work & Residence Permits as well as License applications.
But the new role meant the frequency of trips to Gaborone increased to almost a trip every week, taking a toll on his company’s operations. He made the momentous decision to enter football administration fulltime.
“I was quick to realize that all else was secondary to my responsibilities at football. My whole world was closing in around football,” says Mamelodi.
