The Botswana Football Association (BFA) is expected to make final deliberations on the future of national team coach Stanley Tshosane this week.
The BFA and Tshosane met in the past week when a decision was taken to allow Tshosane to step down. By the end of the week, both parties had not agreed on the finer details of the “gentlemen’s agreement”.
Since the new broom took over at BFA at the end of July, it has always been clear that they were not too keen on Tshosane. Though BFA president Tebogo Sebego was on record saying that the coach has their full support, those close to the flamboyant lawyer say he has never been a great fan of Tshosane.
“Even when he (Sebego) was still serving as a legal advisor, he did not approve of the appointment of Stan. A decision has been taken that he (Tshosane) should step down. There are still few things which need to be sorted out, especially paying him out of contract. The problem is that Sebego was not in Gaborone towards the end of last week hence there is a delay. I know already a search for a new coach is on,” said a source close to the developments.
It is reported that BFA has already contacted the associations in Portugal, Serbia and Germany to help them find a reputable coach. According to the source, the European coach is likely to arrive in the New Year in order to prepare the team for the 2014 World Cup qualifier in March.
“I’m not sure if, in the interim, the BFA would appoint a local coach to monitor the performance of our players. That one you can check with Tariq (Babitseng, acting BFA chief executive officer).
Efforts to get a comment from Babitseng were fruitless as his phone rang unanswered. BFA Vice President Technical, Ernest Nthobelang, claimed ignorance on the issue that they had already started a search for a new coach.
“Our stand remains the same, Tshosane is still in charge of the team,” he said, before hanging up.
Ever since qualifying for the 2012 African Nations Cup in Nd’jamena, after beating Chad 1-0 in March 2011, the Zebras have failed to win a competitive game. They have since gone nine games without a win, something which has won Tshosane few friends in football circles.
It is said that the BFA intends to bring a new technical team and backroom staff with the current ones shown the door.
