22 Jan 2018

Spain-based FC Barcelona legends representatives yesterday paid a courtesy call on President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama.

The delegation, which was accompanied by Botswana Football Association (BFA) president, Mr Maclean Letshwiti, comprised of former Barcelona defensive midfielder and Dutch international legend Mr Edgar Davids, Barcelona legends team manager Mr Magín Civantos, Barcelona legends representative Mr Rayco Garcia and Mr Tichaona Mawoni who is Africa’s representative.

Mr Letshwiti said in an interview that the courtesy call was necessitated by the fact that his association had been working with LaLiga for some time to see how they could assist Botswana football.

“So we are to sign a Memorandum of Agreement with LaLiga to help us with grassroots football development. 

Now during the conversation with LaLiga, they also said Barcelona legends have a lot of projects throughout Africa and Europe that BFA could benefit from,” he said.

Furthermore, Mr Letshwiti said after conversation with LaLiga, they then approached Barcelona legends who showed a lot of interest in Botswana, adding that they came to the country to look at the infrastructure and see how they could assist BFA going forward.

“We felt while they are in Botswana, they should pay a courtesy call on His Excellency himself being a supporter of football and we just found out that he is a Barcelona supporter,” he said.

He said the Barcelona visit was aimed at cementing relations with LaLiga and finding ways and means of working with the legends to assist football development in Botswana.

For his part, Mr Davids said it was important to diagnose what was a necessity in Botswana football, adding however that he was happy the country had a professional league and a league that supported passionate amateur players.

“I think it is a great initiative and moving forward I think the most important thing is the passion for football which I have seen in Botswana. 

I think we have to start with passion because if people are passionate and willing to do certain things, it is easier to help than going into a country where they are not keen on football,” he said.

He said Botswana was already a step ahead given that they had a good foundation, adding that he was currently working on projects in Africa to build play grounds and academies, noting that if invited back to Botswana he would gladly come and assist. Ends