05 Jun 2018

Botswana Premier League teams should professionalise and stop paying lip service to the idea every year.

This was said by Botswana Football Association president, MacLean Letshwiti at the Botswana Premier League (BPL) annual general assembly in Gaborone on June 2.

He said 30 years ago, South Africa was in the same situation as Botswana football was in today, and that they took a conscious decision to transform and professionalise their league.

Letshwiti said it would be difficult for them to transform into a professional outfit unless clubs changed from societies to corporate entities.

He said the association was prepared to assist all teams that had a desire to change, adding that FIFA also had a professionalisation department.

He noted that in 2016 he brought a consultant to assist teams to professionalise, but that to date the teams had not done anything.

 “Year after year there is no change, and you will be saying there is no money because you are resisting to move forward. When you ask for sponsorships, you are selling professionalisation. Without the product called professionalisation, you cannot attract sponsorships,” he said.

He said societies were not geared towards commercialisation and professionalisation. “How do you have the whole tribe running a football team?,” he asked.

Letshiwiti said only Police XI, Township Rollers, Security Systems, Jwaneng Galaxy, Orapa United, BDF XI, Prisons and BR Highlanders were ready because they had adopted a socio-model. END