Lack of governance at the Botswana Football League (BFL) has been pin pointed as the main reason behind the latest postponement of the 2022/ 23 league commencement.
This past week, the league was thrown into turmoil as its chief executive officer (CEO) Solomon Ramochotlhwane resigned unexpectedly. His resignation came five days before the planned commencement of the league season. It then forced the BFL board to defer the start of the league to 29th October 2022.
“The latest postponement of the start of the football league season is the manifestation of the chaos and crisis that has engulfed Botswana football in recent years. I think it is a world record to have a closed season of six months when people have been talking about commercialization of football,” local football analyst Aupa Mokotedi says.
Even more galling is the fact that the coming season will start without a league title sponsor. “We expected commercial minded football authorities to seal league sponsorships two to three years before the date the sponsor has to run. So, what we are seeing is chaos, disaster!”
Mokotedi likens the current state of football clubs as being hit by a new wave of COVID-19 pandemic in a space of three years. “Remember that during the pandemic, nothing moved and clubs were not in business. Today we see football authorities failing to run the sport and failing to explain to the football fraternity what is going on. I don’t think many clubs will recover from this prolonged loss of income,” he observes.
He says the effects of the BFL board and chairperson’s ineptitude will be felt for many years to come. He adds that starting the league under a month before the FIFA World Cup will also seriously affect the league.
“The beginning of the World Cup suggests that domestic football competitions must give way to the international football’s flagship competition. Super imposing this badly organised league during World Cup fever is bad for Botswana football. Clubs will not make money,” Mokotedi opines.
“My feeling is that we missed the Boat. We lost a season. We could have thought of a filler competition that would start after the World Cup,” he says. For him, the season can start only if clubs are comfortable playing to honour fixtures in empty stadiums as was the case in the last few years when league games were played mid-week during working hours.
On whether the BFL should be given back to BFA to run it, he said; “BFA is not any better. The whole system has collapsed. Even regional Leagues have not started, suggesting even deeper crisis. Again, national teams are not doing well save for the national ladies’ soccer teams.”
Meanwhile, another commentator Thuso Rammidi says the postponement ‘is bad and could be a message that there is no purpose or clear plan by the board of directors at BFL.’ He says this points to ‘no clear strategic plan or blueprint for the premier league in terms of scheduling, implementation and direction.’
“It looks as if the decision to give the BFL autonomy was rushed while there was no human resource in place to administer the league. The postponement is killing the confidence of potential sponsors to come on board. It’s a decision that shows leadership vacuum,” he opines.
He says with the broadcaster already on board, BFL should have taken the initiative to find multiple sponsors in the absence of a single title sponsor. He also called out clubs saying they need ‘to take responsibility because playing in premier league is their core business in a way.’
“They can play a cashless league in prospect of getting their dues and grants once sponsors come on board as no one will invest in a non-existent premier league. The solution is to start the league if possible and partners/ sponsors will come and invest in what they see not only what is being talked about. Mind you, prize money is a deal breaker in the premier league and must not be the motivation but only a small portion to complement clubs gate revenues, merchandising, own sponsorships and cup successes,” Rammidi says.
